Jain Journal 1981 10

SR No.: 520064
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication
Publication Year: 1981
Total Pages: 51
Language: English
Classification: Magazine, India_Jain Journal, & India
File Size: 3 MB

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of the Jainas were human beings and they attained mokşa through penance and austerity.
JAIN JOURNAL
Further, we should remember that the Tirthankaras have been mentioned in the Rgveda and that the Jainas themselves believe, through tradition, that the Tirthankaras were living beings and that a tradition may not have a strong historical foundation beneath it but it does not grow out of nothing. There is also a consensus of opinion among some scholars that Jainism dates back from the pre-Vedic times. Accordingly it is tempting to hold that the rudimentary ideas of this religion grew in ancient times.10
Now, it was the tradition of India in ancient days that the teachings of the preceptors were preserved in memory by the pupils and followers as the art of writing was not known in those days. This tradition continued for a long time and the teachings of a sage or preceptor continued through the successive generations of pupils and followers and at a very late date the teachings were recorded by a very distant pupil or follower. So it was with Jainism also. It is historically true that the Anga and the Drştivada text of the Svetambara school or sect preceded the text of the Digambara school or sect and many of the collections of the Svetambara texts were recorded as utterances of Sudharma in reply to the questions put by Jambu." In such a case, there are two possibilities: first, that such utterances may not reflect faithfully the very old teaching and, secondly, that many unnecessary and improbable things may find place in such utterances. But this is no peculiarity of Jainism alone, this is present in other religions also. And because of the above difficulties, many of the Jaina texts have come to record very improbable facts about the stature and the longivity of the Tirthankaras.
We are told that after attaining the kevala jñāna (supreme knowledge) Rsabhanatha "preached to the suffering mankind his peace and liberation giving creed of love and non-violence".12 We also learn from the Bhāgavat Purāṇa (V.15) that the Tirthankara "Sumati followed the path of Rsabha" and that he was the grandson of Rsabha 13 and that Parsvanatha "received
10 I say rudimentary, because definite idea of the religion dates from the days of Parsvanatha.
11 See Sen. A. C., Jaina Dharma (in Bengali), Calcutta, 1358 B.S., Visva Bharati, p. 16. 12 Jain, J. P., Religion and Culture of the Jainas, New Delhi, 1975, Bharatiya Jnanpith, P. 10.
18 Vide, Chatterjee A. K., A Comprehensive History of Jainism, Calcutta, 1978, Firma KLM PVT. Ltd., p. 5.