Aspects of Brahmanical Influence On Jaina Mythology

Author(s): Shaktidhar Jha
Publisher: Bharat Bharti Bhandar

Page 88

70
Aspects of Brahmanical Influence on the Jain Mythology
though the physical and dispositional aspects of the people of the succeeding periods register a decline with the march of time, yet their mental and intellectual capacity shows satisfactory signs of gradual advancement upto a certain point Thus, the people of the first Manvantara are simply native and innocent beings 26 They are totally ignorant of the nature and form of the vast and varied world they live in But in course of time their mental horizon widens and they start everincreasing interest in the study of nature around them The people of the succeeding ages are found ever struggling for existence This strife both on material and intellectual planes remains in continuous operation till the emergence of the people as a civilised community during the reign of Rşabhadeva, the first mythical sovereign and Cīrihankara of the present Avasarpini
Now to afford a glimpse into the social evolution through the ages, we give the following resume of the accounts of the Manvantaras in accordance with the Jaipa versions with special reference to the Mahapurana We are told that in the first stage of Avasarpini the people lived a life of perfect happiness All their needs were supplied by the desire-yielding trees (KalpaVýkşas) which were ten in number. The people of that age were ever gay and jovial and wore godlıke appearances. They were endowed with very strong and lovely frame, shining with glimmer of complexion which imitated the lustre of heated gold Born to enjoy the fruits of meritorious deeds done in the previous life, they were free from the sorrows and sufferings of the world of ours They felt hungry after an interval of three days and were satisfied with as much of divine food as the quanuty of a single frut of Jujube Thus having lived an immeasurable length of secure life, they used to vanish, as it
25
They are said to have got bewildered at the first sight of the Sun and the Moon (below note 28), and the Brāhmanıcal Puranas say that the people of the first age) get livelihood spontaneously without prior knowledge aaf694 VII Gia 4H,
Vāru, 8 50b)