Jain Journal 1973 10

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

Page 28

OCTOBER, 1973
is a feat of mathematical skill. As to what exactly Jinasena had in mind when he pictured the first stage in the history of human society will be evident when we note the description of the men and women in that age. They enjoyed a span of existence which cannot adequately be computed. Hence so far as their ages were concerned, they were like aeons. They had a golden complexion, their countenances being as beautiful as their virtues were perfect. There was no question of their earning their daily bread, since it was one of idyllic surroundings which yielded whatever they desired through the kalpavṛkṣas or wishing-trees. At the merest prompting of their hearts, the kalpabṛksas gave them whatever they wanted.
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The above age of indescribable happiness gradually declined in the second cycle, and to a still lower level in the third cycle when there took place some profound changes in the world. Among these was the appearance of the sun and the moon in the heavens and the consequent alarm and surprise which they caused among mankind. The men then went to Pratisruti, the one person who was pre-eminent in that society of perfect equality and happiness, for advice. Here we are introduced to the theory of the Kulakaras or Patriarchs whom we shall presently mention. Jinasena, while describing the Avasarpini, or recessing evolution, refers to the Aryaksetra of the Bharatavarsa, that is, probably to the Aryavarta of the ancient Hindu writers, which was the region between the Himalayas and the Vindyas, perhaps excluding the eastern parts of India, on the one hand, and the south-western parts of northern India, or Sindh and Saurastra18. It was here in the Aryaksetra that Jinasena placed the life-history of the Kulakaras to which we may now turn.
(b) The Theory of the Patriarchs: Pratisruti was the first Kulakara or patriarch in a line of fourteen patriarchs (according to some fifteen counting Rsabhadeva, the first Tirthankara, as the last Kulakara) who were called by four different names according to the functions per
18 The Manusmrti defines Aryavarta thus: "But (the tract) between these two mountains (the Himalayas and the Vindhyays) which (extends) as far as the eastern and the western oceans, the wise call Aryavarta (the country of the Aryas). Since in the preceding verse (No. 21), Manu has described the Madhyadesa or the central region, as lying between the Himalayas and the Vindhyas and as being located to the east of Prayaga and to the west of Vinasana (the place where the Saraswati disappeared), (Manu, VII. 21-22, p. 33, Buhler's trans. S. B. E. XXV), Professor Ghosal's equation of Aiyavarta as given by Jinasena, and as being the middle region of Bharatavarsa (Ghoshal, op. cit, p. 457), does not seem to be
correct.