________________
50
History of Jainism with Special Reference to Mathurā
The story of Rsabha also occurs in the Bhāgavata Purana425 and the Vişņu Purāņa.426 In the Bhāgavata Purāņa427 and the Vişņu Purāņa428 he is mentioned as an incarnation of Vişnu or Nārāyaṇa.429 Rşabha's story as given in these works is identical with his story as given in the Jaina sacred literature.430 These Purānas mention Rsabha as a great ascetic or tapasvī.131 The description of ascetic Rsabha embodied in these Purānas is closely identical with the ascetic discipline prescribed for a tapasvī or ascetic in the Jaina literature.432
The Bhagavata Purāņa and the Vişņu Purāņa make a mention of Rşabha who used to wander naked and desisted from religious rites. 433 This description compares favourably with the Jaina account of the first tīrthařkara Rşabha.434 In fact, the recorded traditions about Rşabha are so varied, and his images, particularly those belonging to the Kuşāņa period, are so abundant that it seems difficult to deny his historical existence.435 Even Hermann Jacobi, who clearly doubted the historicity of the first twenty-two tīrthamkaras,436 opined that there may be something historical in the Jaina tradition which makes Rsabha the first tirthamkara.437
The Brāhmaṇical texts, although some of them belong to a later period,
425. Bhāgavata Purāņa, 5, 3-6; HJM, p. 39; JI, p. 50; CUHI, I, p. 185. 426. Viņņu Purāna, tr. H.H. Wilson, vol. I, 1980, pp. 245-7; HJM, p. 39; CUHI, I, p. 185. 427. Bhāgavata Purana, 5, 3-6; JI, p. 50; CUHI, I, p. 185. 428. CUHI, I, p. 185. 429. Ibid., p. 185. 430. Ibid.; HJM, p. 58. 431. Bhāgavata Purāņa, 5,3-6; Vişnu Purāņa, op, cit., pp. 245-6; CUHI, I, p. 185. 432. CUHI, I, p. 185. 433. See Vişnu Purāna, op. cit., p. 246 and fn; ACHI, p. 100. 434. CUHI, I, p. 185. 435. JI, p. 37. 436. ERE, VII, p. 466. 437. Jacobi cited in JOLR, p. 40.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
