________________
94
JAIN JOURNAL
peculiar to Jainism and have little in common with the Buddhist or the Brahmanical religions. And, since these ideas were being professed in those far off lands at a time when Mahavira and the Buddha were only just beginning their careers, in all probability they owed their propagation to Parsva, if to no earlier Tirthankara.
One of the foremost exponents and, in his time, the greatest leader of the movement for the revival of Sramana Dharma that marked the later Vedic Age of Indian History, as Parsva was, he commanded the love, esteem, and veneration of his contemporaries. "He was obviously of a winsome nature", as Dr. Schubring avers, "for he bears the constant title of 'Purisadaniya' which seems to be the oldest precursor of the modern occasional titles of Lokamanya, Desabandhu, Mahatman, etc39. Even Mahavira, whenever he alluded to Parsva, is said to have used the honorific epithet, Purisadaniya (meaning the noblest of men for him.
89
Schubring, op. cit., p. 29. Bloomfield's The life of the Jaina Saviour Parsvanatha may also be read with interest.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
