Jain Journal 1970 07

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 19

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most of the Tirthankaras before Mahavira attained their nirvāṇa, the liberation of soul. Among other instances Risabhanatha attained nirvāņa on Mount Kailasa, the twelfth Tirthankara Vasupujya was born in Campapuri and attained nirvana in the same place, and Neminatha the twentysecond Tirthankara attained his similar emancipation on Mount Girnar. Since in the annals of the Tirthankaras the Mount Parsvanatha is eminently sanctified like the Kailasa it is tempting to associate the origin of Jainism, one of the earliest religions of the world which stressed on knowledge and ahimsā amidst the highlands of Chotonagpur besides other regions covering holy terrains. Actually, the age of early Tirthankaras will to an extent correspond to the age of the protohistoric civilisation of Bengal and Bihar which flourished as far back as the 2nd millennium B.C. Further studies and investigations may throw a new light on the genesis of the religion vis-a-vis the phases of chalcolithic civilisation in the Indian sub-continent which had often contact with foreign lands. This tradition of thoughts, as it appears, emanated in an age of great antiquity being a moralising force of immense spiritual value which not only emphasised on ethics but also on the inner and external manifestation of knowledge. The organised system of Jainism envisaged the truth of kevala to be enshrined in self which will not bring one to the Paradise beyond mortality but to the supreme realisation of things under the purest light of perception. This perfect state conditioned by realisation, is believed can only reveal the entirety of soul and its relation with the pudgala in its limitless aspect. Even accepting the iconic and aniconic cults ranging from those of divinities to the worship or veneration to trees and symbols Jainism ever aimed at this ultimate knowledge beyond reality and atoms. While an unaccountable feeling has been conveyed by the ideals of sculpture envisaging either the height of dedication for liberation as reflected by the colossus of Gomatesvara or the fascinating lines and modulations of goddesses replete with feminine grace and members of dancing troupes as carved on marble at Dilwara on Mount Abu the ideology proclaimed the majesty of self and its perception beyond bondage.
References:
JAIN JOURNAL
1. A Source Book in Indian Philosophy, edited by Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan and Charles A. Moore, Princeton University Press, 1957.
2. P. Thomas, Epics, Myths and Legends of India.
3.
Umakant P. Shah, Studies in Jaina Art, Varanasi, 1955.