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the twenty-four Tirthankaras were worshipped in India. This ought to convince everyone that Jainism dates from very remote antiquity and that it has prevailed in India at least side by side with Hinduism long before Gautama Buddha began to teach his doctrines.
Jainism is not Atheism.
Another misconception which is sometimes entertained about Jainism is that it is an atheistic creed; but a little reflection will show the error in this belief. It is untrue to say that the Jainas do not believe in God. The Jainas have like the Hindus a pantheon of deities of various degrees. They have got their Indra, and other minor deities. It is true that they do not believe in a God as the creator and the ruler of the Universe. According to them Karma is the one force which generates this huge machinery of the world. According to them Parameshvara is the Soul who has attained to perfect knowledge after destroying the whole kārmic dross. There is no one else who is so designated. He is called Shankara, Parushottama, Buddha &c. The minor deities above referred to are however far inferior to such Soul. They are only a class of superhuman beings and enjoying the fruit of their merit but they like human beings are reborn after the stock of their merit is exhausted and have to endeavour to attain Perfection, by such means as Japa and Tapas. This doctrine however should not lead one to charge Jainism with Atheism. Disbelief in a personal reator is no mark of atheism, otherwise Krishna, the reciter of Bhagvadgita, will also have to be reckoned an atheist because he says a faca a PATIO 31967 asla st! and no one is prepared to do this. Nor can the belief in the Vedas be looked upon as the only sign of theism. Christianity, Mahomedanism and even Prārthnāsamājā which is an offshoot of Hinduism do not take the Vedas as the only authority in matters of religion and not one of these creeds can be called atheistic. Again looking to the meaning which
| SR No. | 022208 |
| Book Title | Adhyatma Tattvalok |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Motichand Jhaverchand Mehta |
| Publisher | Abhaychandra Bhagwandas Gandhi |
| Publication Year | 1920 |
| Total Pages | 992 |
| Language | Sanskrit, Gujarati |
| Classification | Book_Devnagari & Book_Gujarati |
| File Size | 19 MB |