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WRONG ACCOUNT OF JAINISM. 135 and which probably owes its most distinguishing features to a teacher named Parsva, who ranks in the succession of Jinas as the predecessor of Mahavira."-Encyclopædia Britannica, XI. Edition, Vol. XV, page 127, first column.
But according to the Jainas the founder of their religion, in this half cycle of time, (see foot note) was Rishabhdeva, the first of their 24 lords (Tirthankaras), although their version is that their religion is eternal.
2. The. Tirthankars (Jinas) do not become the disciples of any second person. They themselves obtain omniscience by meditation and then preach the same doctrines as their predecessors (previous Tirthankars) did. Parsvanath was the predecessor of Mahavira and the parents of the latter were the followers of the order of Parsvanath, hence it follows that Jainisin existed even before him and Mahavira was born of a Jaina family. At the age of 30 he renounced everything and began practising penance and meditation as a Jaina Monk, on the same lines as Parswanath the 23rd Tirthankara and his 22 predecessors did.
3. It is altogether wrong and baseless. Mahavira never joined and so could never give up any order. He never founded any system of his'own. But'after obtaining omniscience independently preached the same tenets as were preached by his predecessors. So the question of his giving up the order at the age of 40 and founding a religious system of his own does not arise but is obvious rather that Jainism did exist here even before Mahavira, as can be seen from the two quotations given above froin Mrs. Sinclair Stevenson and the Encyclopaedia Britannica.
4. Jainas do believe in God but not as the Creator or the Destroyer of the Universe. According to them any soul may obtain perfection and thus become God.
5. The lifeless objects do never possess soul. There exist two clear divisions of animate and inanimate objects in the Jaina
(Note). - The Jaina belief is that the world is eternal They have div.ded the time into two parts, Utsarpinikal (time of progress) and Avsarpini kal (time of decline, and then have again subdivided these parts into 6 parts each called 6 Aras. In the third and fourth aras of the Utsarpini and Avasarpinikal) respect
ively there happen to be 24 Jinas or Tirthankaras hence 48 in a complete cycle, Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
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