Facets of Jain Philosophy Religion and Culture

Author(s): Shreechand Rampuriya, Ashwini Kumar, T M Dak, Anil Dutt Mishra
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati

Page 8

Preface
With the drawing of the present millennium to a lower botoiars are now increasingly acknowledging the value of the rich, profound and varied philosophical, religious and cultural heritage of India bequeathed to us by a galaxy UT 1llustrious genius of the Brahminical, Buddhist and Jinist seers, saints and thinkers together with the followers of other faiths who also evinced keen interest in enriching and elevating the thought and culture of the country. The contributions and achievements of Brahminism (later known as Hinduism) and Buddhism are more or less widely known but it is a wonder that Jainism has remained unknown, to a greater extent, to scholars who, due to some reason or other,could not bestow adequate attention to it which it really deserves.
Jainism is one of the few religions of India which, dating back to hoary past, has survived the ravages of time. It is said to be promulgated, during the present period, by twentyfour tirthankaras, the first being Rshabha, who is found mentioned even in the Vedas and whose details are also recorded in the Hindu Puranas. Neminatha, the twenty second tirthankara, is associated with Krsna. All these tirthankaras are not regarded as historical personages. Only the last two tirthankaras, Parsvanatha and Mahavira, are accepted as historical persons. Parsva flourished in the eighth century B.C. and preceded Mahavira by 250 years. We find some details about the life and teachings of Parsva in the Jaina texts. The early Pali texts also furnish some information about him. Mahavira is regarded as the twenty fourth and the last tirthankara. The sermons delivered by Mahavira were first transmitted orally from one generation to another and later on compiled and committed to writing, and are now known as Agamas. What we,