Jaina Philosophy

Author(s): Mohanlal Mehta
Publisher: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

Page 18

HISTORY OF JAINISM
The four vows preached by Lord Pārsva are : not to kill, not to lic, not to steal and not to own property. The vow of chastity was, no doubt, implicitly included in the last vow, but in the two hundred and fifty years that elapsed between the death of Pārsva and the preaching of Mahāvīra, abuses become so abundant that the latter had to add the vow of chastity explicitly to the existing four vows. Thus, the number of vows preached by Lord Mahāvīra was five instead of four.
Neminātha or Arişğanemi, who preceded Lord Pārsva, was a cousin of Krsņa. If the historicity of Krşņa is accepted, there is no reason why Neminātha should not be regarded as a historical person. He was son of Samudravijaya and grandson of Andhakavşşņi of Sauryapura. Kșşņa had negotiated the wedding of Neminātha with Rājīmatī, the daughter of Ugrasena of Dvārakā. Neminātha attained emancipation on the summit of Mount Raivata (Girnar).
The Jainas believe in the occurrence of twenty-one more tīrthankaras. They preceded Neminātha. Lord Rşabha was the first among them. The Vedic tradition also refers to him. It is not an easy job to establish the historicity of these great souls. Lord Mahāvīra :
Mahāvīra was the twenty-fourth, i, e., the last tirtharkara. According to the Pali texts, he was a contemporary of Buddha but they never met. The early Prakrit texts do not mention the name of Buddha. They totally neglect him. This indicates that Mahāvīra and his followers did not attach any importance to Buddha's personality and teachings. On the other hand, in the Pali Tripitaka Mahāvīra is regarded as one of the six tirthankaras of Buddha's times. This shows that Mahāvīra was an influential personality and a leading venerable ascetic.
According to the tradition of the Svetāmbara Jainas the liberation of Mahāvīra took place 470 years before the