________________
Jaina Tirthamkaras and antiquity of Jainism
in the soul of man; he undertakes the teaching of righteousness, faith and insight.21 The jina conquers his mind and passion through self-mortification; he emancipates himself from dependance upon the world and all its objects, animate and inanimate, and transcends his physical existence and bondage of karma.22 He has infinite qualities; he is the conqueror of the world, and, he provides the ideal for those who desire salvation.23
The tīrthařkaras are guides24 and spiritually great souls.25 They are liberated souls who go up to the top of the universe and remain there for ever in the state of absolute perfection.26 The Jainas are firm in their belief that each tīrthamkara is a separate individual - a perfect soul.27 The tirthařkaras keep their individual identity even after their liberation from physical integument.28 When the tīrthamkara reaches the top end of the universe after leaving his physical body, he, like other liberated souls residing in that part of the universe, is called a siddha.29 In the Jaina pantheon, even the gods and goddesses, many of whom have been adopted from Hinduism, are treated as subordinate to the jinas.30 The idea of the relative superiority of the jinas has found manifestation in the Jaina iconography also; in the early Jaina sculptures the tirthařkaras occupy practically the entire relief.31
Of the twenty-four tīrthařkaras, twenty-two have been ascribed to the Ikşavāku dynasty of the ksatriyas. 32 But Munisuvrata, the twentieth
21. ERE, II, p. 187. 22. HOIC, I, p. 163. 23. CUHI, I, p. 191. 24. OJ, Introduction, xxvii. 25. Ibid., p. 5. 26. ERE, II, p. 186. 27. AJAA, p. 3. 28. Ibid. 29. Ibid., p. 4. 30. JI, p. 37; OISJ, p. 61; JIR, p. 234. 31. Ibid., pp. 37-8. 32. ERE, VII, p. 466; OISJ, p. 65.
21
