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JAINA ANTIQUARY.
[Vol. I
Rishabha of the Vedic text to be that of the Jaina literature? Moreover when the Vedic commentator insists on the elucidation of Vedic tradition with the help of traditional history in the Epics and the Puranas', it is but natural for us to regard the Vedic Rishabha to be the son of Patriarch Nabhi and his wife Marudevi and the founder of Jainism in this cycle of time. This agreement of the Jaina and the Brahmanical texts is so striking and singular that we cannot deny its validity', and, moreover, there are Vedic scholars like Prof. Virupaksh Wadiyar, M.A., VedaTirtha and others who clearly express that Rishabha of the Rigveda hymn is the same as the first Tirthankara of the Jainas3.
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Likewise the epigraphical evidence also bears testimony to the real personality of Rishabhadeva. Most ancient Mohanjo Daro seals may be pointed out in this respect; the nudity and the pose of eyes of the figures engraved on them 1 are the characterising elements and marks of the Jain images. Rai Bahadur Ramprasada Chanda, M.A., remarks rightly about them:
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Yoga or religious meditation is the common element of all historic Indian religions with the exception of Vedic ritualism......... The Kayotsarga (dedication of the body) posture is peculiarly Jaina. It is a posture not of sitting, but of standing. In the Adipurana (XVIII) Kayoisarga posture is described in connection with the penances of Rishabha or Vrishabh, the first Jina of the Jainas......... Not only the seated deities engraved on some of the Indus seals are in Yoga posture and bear witness to the prevalence of Yoga in the Indus valley in that remote age, the standing deities on the seals also show Kayotsarga posture of Yoga described above......... A standing image of Jina Rishabha is in Kayotsarga posture on a stelle.........in the Curzon Museum, Mathura...... It will be seen that the pose of this image closely resembles the pose of the standing deities on the Indus seals. The name Rishabha means bull and the bull is the emblem of Jina Rishabha. The standing deity figured on seals 3 to 5 may be the proto-type of Rishabha.' "15
1. Asur India, Int. IV.
2, Prof. Stevenson remarked: "It is so seldom that Jainas and Brahmanas agree, that I do not see how we can refuse them credit in this instance, where they do so."-Kalpasutra, Intro. XVI.
3. जैनपथप्रदर्शक भाग ३ अंक ३ पृष्ठ १०६ ।
4. Mohenjo Daro, I, 52-78.
5. Modern Review, Aug. 1932 pp. 156-159.
