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INTRODUCTION.
ANTIQUITY OF JAINISM.
A few years ago, erroneous notions were held about the origin and history of the Jaina Religion. Some said that Jain ism was an offshoot of Buddhism or of Brāhmanism. Lord Mahāyira was looked upon as the first founder of this religion and that his doctrines were held to propagate atheism.
Recent studies and discoveries, however, have clearly proved that all these were wrong conclusious based upon an imperlect acquaintance with Jaina literature and Philosopby. Brāhmanism and Buddhism first attracted the notice of European scholars, who, engrossed in studying these religions, utterly lost sight of Jainism, and therefore, confounded it with Buddhism, Colour was lent to this wrong view by the accidental similarity between some of the incidents in the lives of Buddha and Lord Mahavira and between a few poląts of their teachings, and confusion was worse confounded.
Fortunately, however, these misconceptions are now being gradually removed, and Jainism is being acknowledged as a religion that can very well command superiority to Buddhism and Brāhmanism. Jainism has its message to teach the world-a mission which has been steadily kept in view by the Jaina saints and propagated by an almost uninterrupted succession of Jaina teachers from the earliest times to the present day.
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