________________
HISTORICAL & ETHNICAL ROOTS OF JAINISM 43
(the inhabitants of which, as the inhabitants of Kashi, are called non-Aryans in the Puranas). 46
Possibly the initial forms of Jainism marched forward from west to east, through Kashi and by the time of Mahavir's birth, new religious faith reached the confederation of Vajji, and it developed and completed its development there.
In the Puranas, it is said that the first Tirthankar, Rishabha performed acts of Yoga, which were incomprehensible to the people (possibly it should be read, to the Aryans) and he was subjected to persecution. He left for the south, and preached there. After his death, Arhan (the word means a Jain ascetic), one of the southern rulers, founded the sect but the people who adopted this new teaching started for the underworld."
At the same time, Rishabha was included in the Brahmanic pantheon in the form of one of the incarnations of the God Vishnu. This circumstance, and also the name Tirthankar, which bears Sanskrit character, confirms the idea that the Aryans had also participated in the development of early forms of Jainism.
46. F. E. Pargiter, The Purana Texts of the Dynasties of the Kali Age, pp. 2-3.
47. J. N. Bannerjea, The Puranic Account of Rishabhadeva and Buddha, p. 56.
