________________
18
COMPENDIUM OF JAINISM
reference to an idol of Rşabhadeva thus establishing that even before or at about the time of Mahāvira, Rşabhadeva was being worshipped. These historical details lend support to Rşabha being a Tirthankara of Jainas.
Foreign Scholars
Many foreign and Indian scholars confirm what has been said above about the antiquity of Jainism. I have quoted already from the articles written by Dr. Hermann Jacobi about the antiquity of Jainism. He says: “There are no reasonable grounds to reject the recorded tradition of a numerons class of men as a tissue of lies. All the events and incidents that relate to their antiquity are recorded so frequenily and in such a
er of fact way that they cannot be properly rejected, unless under force of much stronger evidence than the one adduced by scholars who are sceptic about the antiquity of Jainism.” 29 Both Dr. Fuhrer and Prof. L. D. Barnett accepi that Lord Neminātha the 22nd Tirthapkara was a historical person.30 A. A. Macdonnel refers to the antiquity of the Hindu Purāņās and states that the antiquity of Jainism goes back to a period prior to the origin of Brahmanism itself. 31
Major Gen J. G. R. Forlong has come to similar conclusions: “there also existed throughout upper India an ancient and highly organized religion, philosophical, ethical and severely ascetical, viz. Jainism, out of which clearly developed the early ascetical features of Brabmanism and Buddhism. Long before the Aryans reached the Ganges or even the Saraswati, Jainas had been taught by some twentytwo prominent Bodbās, saints or Tirthankaras, prior to the 23rd Bodha Pārśva of the 8th or 9th Century B. C..."33
Indian Scholars
The views expressed by Indian Scholars support these conclusions. I have already quoted Dr. S. Radhakrishnan on the subject. Prof. Chakravarti writes : “An impartial study of
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
