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FOREWORD
Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism are the three main streams of religious faiths that have nurtured and influenced Indian life and thought through the ages. The origin of Jainism goes back to hoary past. It is recognised as older than Buddhism. The Jainas believe that right faith, right knowledge, right conduct and chastity lead the wayfarer along the path of salvation. Ultimate release from matter is, according to the Jainas, the ideal state of existence for the soul. As even the minutest being is believed to have lise, the Jainas are very careful not to destroy it.
II The antiquity of Jainism is shrouded in obscurity. According to the Jaina Purāras and the caritas, their first twenty-two Tirthankaras flourished several thousand years before Christ. P. C. Roy Choudhury thinks that, “Not much rescarch is possible in the pre-historical age as to the role Bihar played in the story of Jainism. But some of the ancient Jaina scriptures mention that Jainismı had been preached in Magadha (Bihar) by Lord Rşabha at the end of the Stone Age and the beginning of the Agricultural Age. At that remote period Magadha was separated from the rest of India by Gangā-s.īgara. The ancient history of Nepal bears this also."2
The discovery of a few seals and a nude male torso led some scholars to believe that they are the representations of
Dr. R.P. Tewari, Delhi University, has prepared the bioliography and the inclex and Sri C. M. Srivastava, Archaeological Survey of India, bas helped in the selection of the photographs. 1. It has been remarked that, "It is impossible to find a beginning for
Jainism ......Jainism thus appears an earliest faith of India."-Furlong, J.R., Studies in Science of Comparative Religions, pp. 13-1). Roy Choudhury, P.C., Jainism in Bihar, p. 7. Sce also Thakur, Upendra, A Historical Survey of Jainism in North Bihar, JBRS, XXXXV, 1-4, pp. 106 ff; Bajpai, K. D., Evolution of Jaina Art in Madhya Pradesh, Bulletin of the Department of Ancient Indian History & Archaeology, Saugar, No. 3, pp. 75-79.
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