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જૈન કેન્ફરન્સ હેરડ,
(7229042 Sir, 939
On bahalf of the Jain Graduates' Association we beg to submit the following facts for your careful consideration,
On referring to the fifth Book of the new Series of Gujarati Books recently prepared by the vernacular Text--Books Revision Committee we can not but feel that in the Ninth and Sixtieth lessons of the said book, there are certain facts relating to the Jains and Jainism which are inaccurately stated from a historical stand-point and there are other passages which tend to hurt the feelings of the whole of the Jain Community.
The Ninth lesson of the said book deals with a short description of “The different Communities and religions of India". At the top of the page 20th, we find the following statement.
“ઈ. સ. પૂર્વે પાંચ છ વર્ષ ઉપર ચાલતા ધર્મની સ્થિતિથી નારાજ થઈ મહાવીર સ્વામીએ અને ગિતમ બુદ્ધે પિતા પોતાના ઉપદેશ ચલાવ્યા, એ ઉપદેશ જૈન અને બૌદ્ધ એ નામના બે નવા ધમ રૂપે ફેલાયા.”
i.e. " About 500 or 600 years B. C. being dissatisfied with the condition of the religions prevaling during the period, the Sage Mahavir and Gautam Budha commenced their teachings.
These teachings spread in the form of two new religions known as Jainism and Budhism.
Our Association submits that this is historically quite incorrect. Jainism is a very old religion and dates from times immemorial. The Jains believe in and adore a number of sages. They are known by the common appelation of Tirthankaras and they are twenty four in number for each cycle of time. Of those Tirthankaras, Sage Mahavir, who, in the above passage, is said to have introduced Jainism as a new religion is, as a matter of fact, the twenty fourth and the last. This is a matter of common knowledge and this fact is admitted in the sixtieth lesson of the same book. The said sixtieth lesson deals with the character-sketch of Adinath, which, by the way, is only the epithet of “Rishabhdevji” the first of the Tirthankaras and which
