Amrita Collected Papers by A M Ghatage

SR No.: 006968
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jitendra B Shah
Publisher: Kasturbhai Lalbhai Smarak Nidhi Ahmedabad
Total Pages: 530
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 10 MB

Page 264

Pārsva's Historicity Reconsidered
Most of the historians of Jainism believe that both Pärśva and Mahāvīra, the last two of the 24 prophets of Jainism, were real historical persons. In the early days of Jain studies, scholars were less inclined to give credence to the Jain traditions and most of it was regarded as suspect. Nowa-days, the pendulum has swung to the other extreme and there is a growing tendency to put greater faith in the Jain traditional accounts and to regard them as historical without a close scrutiny of their reliability. In the interest of truth, it will be necessary to re-examine the question of Pārsva's historicity in the light of all the available evidence and to reconsider the arguments which are generally urged to prove that he was a historical person and responsible for the formulation of the Jain faith..
In the old Jain writings, mostly canonical, we get a number of references to Parsva and his teaching. The information thus obtained amounts to very little, and consequently we lack a clear picture of his personality and of his views. The Jaina tradition in the Kalpasūtra furnished us with very few facts of his life. He is said to have been a son of king Aśvasena of Benares and his wife Vāmā. He lived for 30 years as a householder, then became an ascetic and after performing penance for 84 days became enlightened. He lived for full hundred years and died on Mt. Sammeta in Bengal some 250 years before Mahāvīra. He is uniformly referred to by the use of the epither purisadaniya 'beloved of all men' which may point to his genial temperament and kind nature.
In his personal life, there is nothing unusual and improbable. But this in itself is not sufficient to regard him as historical. While the duration of hist life of hundred years is based on the mythological scheme of decreasing age of each succeeding prophet and is itseld suspicious, the period of 84 days for his penance is certainly too short and is again due to the same consideration of a decreasing number of days for the austerities of each preceding prophet.