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think this common ancestor lived as little as 4 or 5 million years ago, others have reason to think he lived in the very remote past, as much as 35 million years ago or more.
Perhaps Jainism was interpreted in a way depending upon what type of man lived then, different from that of Lord Rishabhadeva during the period when 24 Tirthankaras of the past half cycle of time had appeared and preached. As for Jainism to day, the interpretation of Lord Rishabhadeva was good enough for all the 24 Tirthankares of the current half cycle of time beginning with him and ending with Lord Mahavira. Present recording of history does not go beyond Lord Parshwanath (877-777 B.C.) or at the most beyond 21st or 20th Tirthankara Lord Naminath or Lord Munisuvrata respectively believed to have lived during the period of King Janaka and Lord Rama of Ramayana. How Lord Rishabhadeva got this knowledge is not known. According to Jaina holy books however, it was his genetic heritage plus purity and intuition in the course of his long, strenuous performance of austerities that gave him this knowledge and all human beings including even Tirthankaras could have the same only if they trod upon the same way.
The details of the lives of the Tirthankaras are known only as laid down by the Jaina Saints not supported by any other external independent evidence. But these details do not tell us any more information than the names of their parents, places where they were born and lived, days and months only but not the year of their being conceived in their mothers' wombs, their birth after nine months, their being initiated into Jaina monkhood, their attaining Perfect Enlightenment (Kevala Gnana) and finally their departing from the world to take their places on Siddha Shila, their total liberation never to have births or deaths again. The details as to the names of the trees under which they performed austerities, the type of the colour of the physical bodies they had, the number of disciples they finally gathered, the number of years they lived expressed in
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