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KUMAR JAINS AND THEIR RELIGION IN AMERICA: A SOCIAL SURVEY 35
Defining Jain and Jina
The term Jain is a derivative from the word Jina, whose etymological meaning is 'spiritual development, and preached his gospel about the path of deliverance. According to the ancient expression-jayati iti Jinam. Jina is "He with unfailing success has His conquest over passion." The Jina is also known by the term Tirthankara, in the sense that 'He built a ford across an ocean of sufferings.' Inscriptional record of the word Jina at least goes back to 1776 years, and is found at Vaddamanu Jain archaeological site in the Krishna river valley in South India. This inscribed potsherd from the site reads: Jinana vihara pari bhoka sameta. Thus, the term Jain is applied to followers of the Jinas, and their religion, therefore, is known as Jainism.
It must be pointed that the use of the word Jina by the Vajrayāna subsect of the Mahāyāna Buddhism of Tibet, sometime beginning in the medieval period in circa 750, must not be confused with Jina of the Jainas. Buddhists use this word without any etymological explanation, and they use it to express their body of bliss, which is an aspect of the five divine wisdom in Buddhism.3
Antiquity and History of the Faith
The religion of the Jinas can be traced-before the advent of the Vedic Aryans-to the prehistoric period in India, which was then was known as Jambudvipa. The first of theṣe Jinas was Rṣabha, whose bull insignia is found in the Indus Valley civilization, which is dated approximately from 3500 to 1500 B.C.E. In the Indus Valley cities of Harappa, Mohanjadaro and Lothal, the surviving seals and amulets indicate respect for animals and trees, veneration of women, possible ritual use of water, and a proto-meditative tradition. Recent study of these seals by American scholars Dr. Thomas McEvilley of Rice University at Houstan Texas, and Dr. Robert DeCaroli of California University at Los Angeles, and Dr. Katherine Harper of Loyola Marymount University further add strength to the suggestion that there existed pre-Aryan Jain tradition in the Indus valley.
Dr Thomas McEvilley suggests that both the mulabhadrasana (a seated position flanked by upright serpents that identifies Pārsva tradition) and the kayotsarga (an upright body posture with arms hanging somewhat stiffly and held away from the sides of the body)
2.
Jainism in America, pp. 7-8, forth coming Dec. 1996.
3. Ibid., p.8.
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