Jainism the Oldest Living Religion

Author(s): Jyoti Prasad Jain, Sagarmal Jain
Publisher: P V Research Institute Varanasi

Page 22

The Oldest Living Religion
contained in the Svetambara Jaina canon. The ancient Jaina sculptures of Mathura, dating from the first century A.D. guarantee the antiquity and authenticity of many of the Jaina traditions. It is generally believed that there were Jaina monks before Mahāvīra, belonging to the order founded by Pārsvanatha •They had also their own Caity as".1
Dr. B. C. Law, Ph.D., D.Litt., F.R.A.S.B. etc., says, "Before the advent of Mahavira, the faith of which he was the last exponent seems to have been prevalent in Vaisal and the surrounding country in some earlier form. It appears that the religion as fixed and established by Kṣatriya peoples of North-eastern India, specially amongst the residents of Vaisal. We learn from the Acaranga Sutra that Mahavira's parents were worshippers of Parsva and followers of the Sramanas".2
15
Prof. J. C. Vidyalankara, speaking of the religious teachers of the post Mahabharata times, says, "One such great reformer, Tirthankara Parsva flourished in the 9th8th century B.C. His father was Asvasena, king of Vārāṇasi (Banaras), and his mother's name was Vāmā. The Jainas believe that their religion is very ancient and that 23 other Tirthankaras had gone before Mahavira. It is not just and proper to regard this belief as quite erroneous and baseless and to regard all previous Tirthankaras as imaginary beings and unhistorical. There is nothing unbelievable about it. The early history of India is as much Jainistic as it is of those who profess the Vedas...for the present, the modern critics have accepted the historicity of
1. Medieval Sculpture in Eastern India--J.D.L., III, 1920, p. 225-246.
2. Vaisal-Mahavira's Birth Place-J.A., X, I, p. 16.