________________ 24 Dr. Vilas A. Sangave been worshipped by their followers in the 5th Century B. C. i.e. immediately after their time. But as we get in ancient inscriptions authentic historical references to the statues of Rishabhadeva it can be asserted that he must have been the founder of Jainism. Other archaeological evidences belonging to the Indus Valley Civilization of the Bronze Age in India also lend support to the hoary antiquity of the Jaina tradition and suggest the prevalence of the practice of worship of Rishabhadeva, the 1st Tirthankara, along with the worship of other deities. It is very pertinent to note that many relics from the Indus Valley excavations suggest the prevalence of Jaina religion in that most ancient period. From these archaeological evidences it can be stated that there are traces of worship of Jaina deities and that there was the prevalence of worship of Jaina Tirthankara Rishabhadeva along with the worship of Hindu God who is considered to be the prototype of Lord Shiva in the Indus Valley Civilization. This presence of Jaina tradition in the most early period of Indian history is supported by many scholars like Dr. Radha Kumud Mookarji, Gustav Roth, Prof. A. Chakravarti, Prof. Ram Prasad Chand, T. N. Ramchandran, Champat Rai Jain, Kamta Prasad Jaina and Dr. Pran Nath. Regarding the antiquity of Jaina tradition of Tirthankaras Major J. G. R. Forlong (in his books Short-studies in the Science of Comparative Religion') writes that from unknown times there existed in India a highly organized Jaina religion from which later on developed Brahmanism and Buddhism and that Jainism was preached by twenty-two Tirthankaras before the Aryans reached the Ganges. Dr. Zimmerman also strongly supports the antiquity of Jaina tradition in the following terms. "There is truth in the Jaina idea that their religion goes back to remote antiquity, the antiquity in question being that of the Pre-Aryan". (Vide Zimmerman : The Philosophies of India, p. 60). Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org
