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No. II 1
WHO WAS THE FOUNDER OF JAINISM.
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There is not only the resemblance of Jaina image of Rishabha, the first Jina, with the figures on the Indus seals, but certain seals bear an inscription, which Prof. Pran Nath reads as Jineshwara. It is enough to prove the authentic antiquity of the Jaina tradition of Rishabhadeva.
Besides it, the ancient Hathi Gumfa inscription of king Kharvela mentions clearly an image of Agra Jina ( i.e., the first Jiną : Rishabha ) which was a national asset of the Kalinga people and was taken away to Magadha by a Nanda King'.
It means that the tradition of Rishabhadeva is more ancient than that of Nanda period. The religious votaries of the times of Buddha and Mahavira no doubt regarded Rishabha as a real person and worshipped his images.
The images of Rishabhadeva and other Jaina deities bearing inscriptions dedicated to Rishabha in the Curzon Museum, Muttra, and excavated from Kanka li Tila also prove this very thing. There were images of Jinas engraved on the plane of that Stupa which was regarded in the Indo-Scythian period, as the work of Devas and which Profs. Bulher and Smith assigned to the time of Parsvanatha i.e , 8th. century B. C. This evidence pushes back the Jaina tradition of 24 Tirthankaras including Rishabhadeva far anterior to Nanda and Mahavira's time.
Now, if Rishabha was not a real personage, there is no reason why some people of ancient India should make and worship his images and dedicate inscriptions to him.
Hence, we should regard Rishabha as a real personage, and as the founder of Jainism in this cycle of time.
1. IHQ. Vol. VIII No. 2 Suppl. 2. JBORS. III 465-67. 3. Jain Stupa and other Anti: of Muttra.
