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Jain Tradition of Tirthankars
Arishtanemi. Further, the Atharva Veda specifically mentions the sect of Vratyas and this sect signifies Jainas on the ground that the term Vratya' means the observer of Vratas or vows distinguished from the performer of sacrifices, which applied to the Hindus at the times. Similarly in the Atharva-Veda the term Maha-Vratya occurs and it is supposed that this term refers to Rishabhadeva, who could be considered as the great leader of the Vratyas,
In the later Puranic literature of the Hindus also there are ample references to Rishabhadeva. The story of Rishabha occurs in the Vishnupurana and Bhagavat-Purana, where he figures as an Avatara i.e. incarnation of Narayana, is an age prior to that of ten avataras of Vishnu, The story is exactly identical with the life history of Rishabhadeva as given in the Jaina sacred literature. In this way Rishabhadeva's life and significant importance narrated in the Jaina literature get confirmed by the account of Rishabha given to the Hindu Puranas.
Thus from the fact that Hindu tradition regards Rishabhadevaand not Mahavira-along with Gautama Buddha as an incarnation of God, it can be said that the Hindu tradition also accepts Rishabhadeva as the founder of Jainism. Jaina Tradition and Archaeological Evidence :
From some historical references it can be regarded that Rishabhadeva must be the real founder of Jainism. In this connection Dr. Jacobi writes thus, "There is nothing to prove that Parshva was the founder of Jainism. Taina tradition is unanimous in making Rishabha the first Tirthankara as its founder and there may be something historical in the tradition which makes him the first Tirthankara". There is evidence to show that so far back as the first century BC, there were people who were worshipping Rishabhadeva. It has been recorded that King Kharvela of Kalinga in his second invasion of Magadha in 161 B. C. brought back treasures from Magadha and in these treasures there was the statue of the first Jaina (Rishabhadeva) which had beed carried away from Kalinga three centuries earlier by King Nanda I. This means that in the 5th Century B. C. Rishabhadeva was worshipped and his statue was highly valued by his followers. From this it is argued that if Mahavirā or Parshvanatha were the founders of Jainism, then their statues would have
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