Jain Journal 1994 07

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

Page 21

OHIRA : THE 24 BUDDHAS AND THE 24 TIRTHANKARAS
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Kusāna periods. And Sonbhandār cave at Rājgir cave came to be requisitioned by the Vaisnavas in later days.37
When Rsabha was established as Adinātha and Arstanemi was placed in the position chronologically earlier than Pārsva, it was natural that some other tirthankaras had to be created in between. Sāntinātha, Munisuvrata, Padmaprabha and Candraprabha came to be created in this background possibly hinted at by the Vaisnavas' stories or from the common stock of legends and stories in India.38 These tirthařkaras must have been thus created in order to fill up the temporal space between Adinātha and Arstanemi-PārsvaMahāvira in the capacity of minor characters, so to speak. This must be the reason why the canonical texts do not attach much importance to them and offer stereotyped descriptions of them. Among them, Śãtinātha is included in the pañcendra, therefore he must have played a certain important role in this historical context. Bhagavatisūtra XX.8 lists Suprabha in the place of Padmaprabha
Candraprabha, which explains that Padmaprabha and Candraprabha became popular enough by this time under the names Suprabha and Sasi.
This is still a hypothetical explanation, no doubt, but even then, it can throw a new light upon the problem under consideration. If so, it was the historical reality involving Mathurā that produced many Jaina tirthankaras all at once. As a result, their images (of course, excluding the case of Mahāvira) were created first, after which their stories came to be composed in the canon. The list of the 24 tirthankaras must have been then finalized upon entering the final canonical stage, along with the completion of the Jaina church chronology and organization. It is thus evident that many Jaina tirthankaras came to be established in the totally different background from the case of the Buddhists.
Then, what is the context in which the 24 tirthankaras make their
rance? The answer is best found in Bhagavatisūtra XX.8 which deals with the following topics. (1) The time cycle consisting of avasarpini and utsarpini dominates over 5 Bharatas and 5 Airāvatas in the human regions (i.e. Jambūdvipa, Dhātakîkhanda and Puskarārdha) alone. (2) The first and the last tirthankaras preach 4 yāmas in Mahāvidehas, but they preach 5 vratas accompanied by
37. A. Ghosh, ed.: Ibid., p.117 38. For example, Sānti, Kunthu, Ara and Nami are listed as the names of kings in
Uttaradhyayana XVIII