________________
You know, we have the same gods, demi-gods etc as are to be found in Vedic and Puranic Pantheons but ours are pure and ideal of divinity free from any theological exaggerations. Some of these points which are questionable for an illiterate sceptic, are clearly removed by such of modern sciences as Geology etc. Jainism is but for them only who could and can maintain strictest discipline. It never gave indulgence to its followers. It wanted only those persons to be its adherents who could adopt its rigid but humane principles in their entirety; The word 'Jina means, over-comer of all things; now they are the only over-comer of all things, who could conquer their ownself, and they are the Tirthankaras. Those who follow the path shown by them are the Jainas. So it can easily be seen that, its numerical strength increased and decreased with the increase and decrease of capacity for enduring and avoiding temptation, of the people of Aryavarta and hence I am inclined to think that, in those days of yore which you call pre-historic, when the Arya people were far more enduring than they are now or at any time in record, the Jain-Dharma was the religion and the only religion of Aryavarta, the word religion or Dharma (that is the sense of “duty ") being taken in its proper sense.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
