________________
4
Jaina Religion: Its Historical journey of evolution
excavated from Mohenjedaro and Harappā, and on the other there are clear references to Arhals, Vrātyas, Vātarasanā recluses or Munis in Rgveda. All these are evidences of the existence of Śramana or Arhat tradition in the ancient times.
It should be known that historically speaking today's current term “Jaina dharma’ is not very old. It has been in currency only since the 61 or the 74 century AD earlier, the term used for Jaina-dharma was Nirgrantha-dharma or Arhat-dharma. Even in these two, the term Nirgrantha is mainly used to denote the traditions of 23rd and the 24" Tīrthankara Pārśva and Mahāvīra. But as far as the term
Arhat' is concerned, it is essentially used in a broader sense. It is used to denote the follower or devotee of Arhat or Arhanta. And all the Sramanic traditions as the Jaina, the Buddhist or the Ajīvakas have been followers of Arhanta. Thus, all these traditions were included in Arhat category. In the Rgvedic era both Arhat and Bārhat (i.e. Śramaņa and Vedic) were in the existence. And Arhat or
Vrātya' was denotative of śramana stream. But with the passage of time, some of the sub-classes of Śramana tradition got absorbed in the broader Hindu religion; and streams like the Ajivaka and others got lost while the Buddhist tradition remained only in name in India, in spite of having a significant identity in many foreign lands. The
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
