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COMPENDIUM OF JAINISM
and renunciation in the kingdoms of Magadha, Pallava etc., before he retired to Girnar where he attined Nirväna after severe penance.
Reference has already been made to the mention of the name of Ariṣṭanemi in the Vedas and to the opinion of Dr. Radhakrishnan who does not doubt the historicity of this Tirthankara. Dr. Prananath, whose reading of a copper-plate grant by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnazaar I of 1140 B. C. has been published, has stated that the King had come to mount Revata to pay his homage to Lord Neminatha.3 Dr. Fuherer has declared on the basis of his studies on the archeological discoveries at Mathura that Neminatha was a historical personage. 4 Dr. Kamta Prasad mentions that some inscriptions of Indo-Scythian period make express reference to this Tirthankara. 5 It is stated in the Adi Parva of the Mahābhārata that the Epic War took place at the advent of Kali-era which is said to have commenced 3101 years B. C. Neminatha was a cousin and a contemporary of Shri Krsna, though he did not participate in the War like the letter. The Jaina Purāņas assign 2750 years before the birth of Parsva as the year of his attainment of Nirvāṇa. This calculation almost tallies with the calculations made on the basis of Mahabharata War. Until further evidence of unimpeachable character becomes available, it may not be erroneous to accept these dates to uphold the historicity of Lord Neminatha. In this connection, quite noteworthy is a paper "Eefore Mabavira" by Dr. R. Williams published in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Sociaty (April 1966). In his opinion Neini emerges from the background of the traditional hagiography with a profile at least as clear as that of Pārśva.'
Pārsvanatha
He was followed by Lord Pārvśanatha who is the twentythird Tirthankara. He was born at Varaṇāsī. His father Viśvasena was then ruling over Kasi which was his kingdom. His mother's name was Brahmi. He was born on the 11th day
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