Book Title: Jaina Archaeology Outside India
Author(s): Jineshwardas Jain
Publisher: Bharat Varshiya Digambar Jain Mahasabha

View full book text
Previous | Next

Page 80
________________ Su people worshiped Meru temples and attached great importance to these. Hence, they named the place of their settlement as SUMER. They were pure vegetarians and gave sufficient protection to animals also. Such a description has been found in an inscription in Mesopotamia in 3500 BC Sumer people worshipped Lord Rishabh as God of agriculture. They observed Poshadh Vrat (Fasting) which was called as Sabbath. Jain scriptures preach staying away from all types of violence and killings of living beings during the vrata periods. One of their religious books named Arahasham which means that it is a representative of 'Arhant and Sham which means light. However, more exploration is needed for this statement. The name of one saint from Babilonia was Urukjin and its religious book, as mentioned earlier, was called Arrahasham which is indicative of the influence of Jainism in these places. It seems that a King named Nabush-chad Nazzar (in Indian context he is named as Nemi Chand Nezar) came to India and visited Girnar mountain, a place where Lord Neminath attained salvation, and consequently ordered construction of Neminath temple. Such a description has been found in an inscription in Prabodhpattan in Saurashtra (Gujrat) which was translated by a historian Dr. Prannath as follows: 'A king of Revanagar, Nebushchad Nazzar, belonging to SU-clan, came to Dwarka of Yadawas and built a temple of Lord Nemi'. This period seems to be around 1140 BC (36B). It is quite obvious that his preachings pertaining to non-violence had a great influence on the people of his place and finally the same was further spread by Saint Musa. The Egyptian people were maintaining good relations with Sumer people and were very much impressed by the Sumerian culture and their traditions. As the ancestors of Sumer people were Indians so were the ancestors of Egyptians were also Indians. A Greek writer Herodotus has mentioned in one of his articles that many naked Jain saints (called Gymnosophist in Greek language)) from India were seen wandering in Abbisinia, Ethopia, and Egypt. A famous British archeologist, Sir Filanders Petris found some statues of Indian style during excavation in a city called Memfil, among which one statue was in padmasan posture. Exactly similar to Jain idols. Hence, it is quite clear that Jain religion stressing the philosophy of non-violence was spread in Egypt. The Jews were so much influenced by Jaina saints that a new community called Assili came into existence. The Assili people used to live in forests or on hills. They were vegetarian, opposed to the killing of animals, enjoyed helping the poor and oppressed and sick people. They did not keep any money with 80

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105