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46 Jaina Religion: Its Historical Journey of Evolution Keśī of Pārsva's tradition met in Śrāvasti and prepared the groundwork for the merger of the two Sarnghas. Though, today we do not have single evidence available on the basis of which it could be said that the Pārsva tradition fully merged into Mahāvīra's tradition, however, this much is certain that a major portion of monks of the Pārśva tradition joined Mahāvīra's tradition and Mahāvīra's followers also recognized Pārśva as the initiator of their own tradition. The term "Puruşādaniya" used for Pārśva proves this point. In the process of time by recognizing great Tīrthankaras such as Rşabha, Nemi and Aristanemi of pre-historic times, Nirgrantha tradition proved its identity as of great antiquity.
From the Vedas and other ancient texts of Vedic tradition it is at least clear without any doubt that Śramaņa stream was in existence in the form of Vātarasanā monks and ascetics, whose pioneer was Rşabha. But still, it is difficult to say on the basis of historical evidence as to what were the philosophical and conduct-related ideologies of Rşabha and how close they were to Jaina tradition of the present day; however it is certain that Rşabha was the founder of the path of renunciation and laid emphasis on meditation and tapas. However, the
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