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20
TIRTHANKARA MAHAVIRA AND HIS SARVODAYA TIRTHA
In the end, on completion of a century of lifespan, he entered into nirvāna at Sammet Sikhara, from which it has acquired the name Paresnath Hill. Even the Railway Station is named Paresnath. Located in the District of Hazaribag in Bihar, this is the most important place of pilgrimage for the Jainas. On this mountain, twenty out of twentyfour Tirthankaras of the Jainas have attained nirvana. Thousands of pilgrims visit this place every year.
Thus we see that Bhagavan Mahavira had been preceded by a long tradition, a long line of Tirthankaras, from a hoary past. Of this long line, Bhagavan Mahavira was the last, as, in this down-swing of the cycle, Adinatha was the first, though, needless to add, in the preceding up and down swings of the cycle prior to Adinatha, there had been innumerable Tirthankaras, as there would be innumerable more after Mahavira in the subsequent up and down swings of the cycle till an infinite time. The first Tirthankara to appear in the upswing following Mahavira would be Mahapadma So it would be a gross error to call Mahavira the founder of Jainism, as Buddha is called the founder of Buddhism.
Bhagavan Mahavira was not the founder of a new religion; he had simply developed it and propagated it. Indeed, he did not even introduce a reform. And pray, who can reform a religion ? Religion is always a reformed thing that helps the reform of a soul which is under perversion Viewed as a category, reform itself is religion.
