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of Buddhism, his first sermon, as well as, the doctriues he preached then being those which are ever to be remembered by his followers; Mahâvîra with whose name only History can associate the birth of Jainism, is regarded by those that follow him as only a prophet whose business has been to hand over to the world, the principles enunciated by his predecessors,-the twenty-three Tirtharikaras who lived before him.
It is the object of the Four Volumes under review, to give an account of the life of this sramaņa Bhagavān Mahavira, the 24th Tîrtharikara of the Jains. The first of these, gives an account of fiffeen out of the twenty-six previous lives of Mahāvîra; and the second deals with the twenty-seventh life. The third starts the exposition of the Ganadhara-vada, an explanation of the doubts of the Ganadharas,--the eleven disciples of Mahavira. The fourth volume gives an account of the Ganadharas. The treatment of the subject îs on the whole quite good, but statements like, “There is a reference of Risabha-déva, Ajitnātha aud Asi-isthanémi in Yaj. urvéda” (Introduction to Volume III. p. 3) could hava been avoided. I cannot trace the word Ajitanātha iu the Yajurveda, in its Śukla or Taittriya recension. The words Rişabha and Aristhanémi du occur in this Véda; but it is in the highest degree questionable whether these Vedic words mean what they connote in Jainism.
Such defects apart, the volumes have their own distinct value. By reason of the very antiquity of Jainism, of the profound influ. ence it exerted on Buddhism, and on Sänkhya and Yoga, it is of very great interest to the student of Comprative Religion. This alone, should make works like these, which give an account of the "prophet" of this religion, extremely valuable.
The author is to be congratulated on his useful undertaking. The appearance of the remaining parts of these foul volumes, is to be eagerly awaited.
Adyar Madras
H. G. Narahari
