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The Jaina Antiquary
[ Vol. XVII
ascertain what true tenets of Jainism are and to try to interprete those principles in the light of the modern discoveries and inventions.
42
We would like to draw the attention of the readers to the following extract taken from the issue of 8-2-33 of 'Times of India' at page 14 under the caption "Vanished Country Traced-Sea Land."
"Evidence that, beginning about 4400 years ago there existed a country now entirely blotted out, which comprised an extensive portion of the Arabian peninsula and was known as the 'Country of the Sea or the Sea Land' is announced by the Professor Raymond P. Dougherty of Yale University.
'The Sea Land' played a major role in the history of the south western Asia for 2000 years, until about 500 B. C. he declares. It was contemporaneous with the ancient nations of biblical times and had a highly developed culture which flourished and died leaving its imprint on the early civilizations developed in the TigrisEuphrates Valley...............
Dr. Dougherty gained his conception of the Sea Land's location and political importance by the careful comparison and correlation of all the references left disconnected in the numerous texts of the Babylonian and Asoyrian literature. If therefore we can find from the Sutras in the Jain book Tatwartha Sutra or rather if we can. by interpreting those sutras in the light of the discoveries, find that those sutras enable us to conceive that some such state of things must have existed in ancient days, it would be possible for us to presume that those Sutras or their original ancient forms must have been as old as the time given by Dr. Dougherty in the above extract,
For this purpose we shall have to take into consideration the Sutras which appear in the third Chapter of the 'Tatwartha Sutra'. The Sutras 1 to 6 of that Chapter give information regarding the Naraka beings while the rest of the Chapter deals with the description about continents, seas, mountains, rivers etc. on the earth. The ideas about hell and hellish beings (Narakas) entertained by the Christian and Muslim religionists are different from those of the religions of the Indian origin while those found in the Jain religious books show considerable difference from the ideas of their Hindu brother religionists. It appears that the Jain books locate the Naraka
