Jain Journal 1972 01

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

Page 47

JANUARY, 1972
125
if not older. His life as depicted in the Bhāgavata and other Purāņas tallies in outline with that which is available from the Jaina sources.
Aristanemi was the twentysecond Tirthankara of the Jainas. He was a cousin-brother of Vasudeva Krsna. In Jaina Āgamas, enough material about Krsna's heroic life is available. Aristanemi being moved by compassion on seeing the large collection of beasts in a pen to be slaughtered for his marriage banquet renounced the world and became a monk. This revolt of a kşatriya prince against the slaughter of animals contributed much to the development of the ahimsā idea. The name of Aristanemi is also found in the Vedas.
Parsvanatha was the twentythird Tirthankara. He was a prince of Kasi. It is mentioned in the Buddhist Pițakas that he preached four-fold Nirgrantha religion. This is also what the Jaina Agamas record. He entered nirvāṇa some 250 years before the nirvāṇa of the twentyfourth Tirthankara Mahavira.
Mahavira, the elder contemporary of the Buddha, was a great saint, a great ascetic. For twelve long years he gave himself up to severe penance and bore all kinds of hardships. After that he obtained kevalaknowledge. Now he became a savant, knower of reals, a philosopher and totally non-violent. He was a great revolutionary and builder of - his age. And he laboured hard for the purification of the common people.
Once a Srāvikā Jayanti asked him : “O Lord, what is good for the jivas--to sleep or to remain awake ?” He replied, “It is good for the virtuous to remain awake and for the sinners to sleep.” When he was asked whether jivas were eternal or non-eternal, he replied : “From the standpoint of soul, the jīvas are eternal; from the standpoint of body, they are non-eternal.” These replies of Mahavira were based on his theory of relativity. This became the basis of what is known as anekānta. Much has been written on anekānta in Jainism which has proved useful and benevolent in resolving unnecessary controversy and dissensions. But the applicability of anekānta is not limited to logic only. We find its application in the Jaina Āgamas in the context of the composition of this universe.
Jainism is a non-atheist religion and believes in the existence of souls. According to it there are an infinite number of souls. Each soul has separate existence. The main characteristic of an individual soul is its consciousness which manifests in the form of knowledge and