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Western Perceptions of Jainism : Misconceptions, Achievements and Current Expectations
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were inevitably, colonialists and Hindu. We must admire their work and use it appropriately, taking into account new and revisionist factors. The discoveries in archaeology alone demand a recognition of the sheer antiquity of Jainism and its achievement in each stage of a history of at least three millennia. In the seven decades since 1922 the discovery of the Indus Vally Civilization stretching from the Himalayas to Gujarat and reaching back from the second millennium before the Common Era into the past, that is, long before the appearance of so-called Aryans and "IndoGermanic" languages, has revolutionized the history of Indic religions. A number of art motifs associated with two thousand years of Jaina iconography such as naked ascetics meditating standing, sacred trees, the bringing together of opposites, figures of animals such as bulls, elephants and snakes, and other emblems especially associated with the twenty-four Tīrtharkaras, "ford-makers," of Jaina tradition, are found in very old strata of the Indus Vally civilization. Then during the early first millennium before the Common Era, perhaps earlier, as literature in the "IndoGermanic" languages in Indiaemerges, we meet naked, wandering homeless ones coming into the story. Then we find various epic, narratives and characters appearing in both "Hindu" and Jaina sources. All these things make one think of a continuity of Jainism with the remotest Indic past as well as an independent and two-way interdependent heritage with both "Hinduism" and later with "Buddhism." Furthermore, our best scientific guides tell us that humans originated in Africa and they draw attention to a continuity of human pigmentation between parts of Africa, South India and onwards to Melanesia. They also indicate a relationship between the languages of the Indus Vally civilization people and the people of the south India. We must not get lost in a mist and morass of speculation because important links in the evidence are missing, so such things are impossible to prove, but it is feasible to contend that Jainism is a living witness to the primordial religion of humanity or at least retains reminders of it. It is not like a fossil fish, a coelocanth, found swimming in today's waters, Jainism retains fundamental vestiges of "humanity's primeval youth" but at each stage has adapted itself superbly to new conditions.
Another feature of Jaina studies has been the immense amount of epigraphical, inscriptional material available from over a period of some
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| SR No. | 014010 |
| Book Title | Jainism in a Global Perspective - Collection of Jain papers of 1993 Parliament of World Religions, Chicago |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Sagarmal Jain, Shreeprakash Pandey |
| Publisher | Parshwanath Vidyapith |
| Publication Year | 1998 |
| Total Pages | 402 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Seminar & Articles |
| File Size | 23 MB |