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134
THE JAINA GAZETTE.
The following are the few points out of many which are quite wrong, objectionable and worthy of re-consideration :
1. “We shall tell the story of Mahavira, who founded Jainism." (Page 12, lines 12, 13).
2. “He joined an order of Monks founded by Parsvanath." (Page 12, last line).
3. “He remained a member of the order for several years, but could not obtain peace of mind. So when he was about forty years of age he cut off his connection with the order and founded a religious system of his own called Jainism”' (page 13, para lst).
4. “He did not believe in God." (Page 13. line 16). 5. “That lifeless objects possess soul" (page 14, line 3).
6. “Both the sects have their own sacred books and are on very bad terms with each other." (Page 14, lines 11-12).
7. “In course of time they have begun to worship the images of their twelve Ginnas-leaders" (page 14, lines 13, 14).
8. “Their monks and nuns hang a piece of cloth over their mouths so that insects present in the air may not be breathed in and killed" (page 15, para 1).
Now we shall deal with the points seriatim :
1. It is quite wrong according to the Jaina history as well as foreign authors. Mahavir was not the founder of Jain religion, but the 24th and the last Tirthankara. We quote below from the foreign writers :
(a) Mrs. Sinclair Stevenson, M.A., Sc D. Dublin says in her book, “ The Heart of Jainism."
"Parsvanath, the Tirthankar, who immediately preceded Mahavira, may also have been a historical person. Very probably he did something to draw together and improve the discipline of the homeless monks, who were outside the pale of Brahmanism, much as St. Benedict did in Europe. If so, he was the real founder of Jainism, Mahavira being only a reformer who carried still further the work that Parswanath had begun." (Page 48, para 1).
(6) "Mahavira was not an originator, he merely carried on, with but slight changes, a system which existed before his time, Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
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