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All these attest to the effect that in ancient times he was equally adored by the Hindus.
Rsabhadeva also finds mention in Buddhist literature and in one of the works he is referred to as Vratapālaka :
प्रजापतेः सुतो नाभिः तस्यापि ऊर्णमुच्यते । लाभिनो ऋषभपुत्रः सिद्धकर्मा दृढव्रतः ।। तस्य मणिचरो यक्ष: सिद्धो हैमवते गिरी। ऋषभस्य भरतः पुत्र: सोऽपि मन्त्रान् तदा जपेत् ॥
-Aryamasījuśrīm ūlakalpa, 53, 363-64. Neminātha or Aristanemi also finds a mention in the Rgveda :
स्वस्ति न इन्द्रो वृद्धश्रवाः स्वस्ति नः पूषा विश्वदेवाः । स्वस्ति नस्ताक्ष्यो अरिष्टनेमिः स्वस्ति नो बृहस्पतिर्दधातु ।।
--Rv. 1, 1, 16. Pārsvanātha, the 23rd Tīrthankara was a historical figure. According to Professor Rhys Davids,' he was the real founder of Jainism. He prescribed four vows for the people to follow, viz., not to injure life; to speak the truth; not to steal and nonattachment. Lord Mahāvīra, the 24th and the last Tirthankara added 'chastity' as the fifth.
Mahāvira was a friend of Bimbisāra and his son Ajātaśatru, the king of Magadha, and hence, he commanded great influence in their courts. According to the Jaina canons, Udayana, the son and successor of Ajātaśatru, was also a Jaina, who is credited with having built a Jaina temple at Pāțaliputra.
The Nandas also had some leanings towards the Jaina faith. The Hāthīgumphā inscription records that a Nanda king had taken away an image of a Jina as a trophy from Kalinga to Magadha.
From the Jaina traditions we lcarn that a great famine, lasting for twelve years, occurred during the time of Candragupta Maurya, the founder of the Maurya dynasty. The king, following his Jaina preceptor, Bhadrabāhu, retired into the region of Mysore and starved himself to death.
1. Davids, Rhys, Encyclopaedia Britannica, gth ed. XII, p. 543.
