Jainthology

Author(s): Ganesh Lalwani
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 55

and Asuras and from the so called Vratya or non-Vedic Ksatriyas. His message seems to have penetrated even beyond the borders of India, and his religion certainly continued to flourish till the time of Mahavira who came two centuries later. Mahavira's parents professed the faith of Parsva, and as many as five hundred of his followers are said to have accepted the five-fold dharma of Mahavira at one place only, that is Tungiya.39 The head of Pārsva's followers at that time was Keśi who is said to have converted the king Pradeśi40 and to have held a conference with Mahavira's chief disciple, Indrabhuti Gautama in order to bring about a reconciliation between the teachings of the two Tirthankaras.
Pārsva's ethical system is usually described as căturyama-dharma representing the four vows of ahimsa (non-injury to life), truthfulness, honesty, and possessionlessness, to which Mahāvira in his time added celebacy as the fifth vow. The most notable contribution of Pārsva was his emphas s on the ethical note in the practice of religion and he considerably succeeded in infusing a moral spirit in the contemporary world. Moreover, he raised his voice against the meaningless selftorturing practices which had become the fashion with the ascetics of different orders, who indulged in curbing the flesh without paying any heed to self purification and mental and spiritual elevation of the soul. It was a step forward. As we have seen, it was in the time of the 20th Tirthankara, Munisuvrata, that an opposition to and condemnation of violent Vedic sacrifices involving the killing of various animals were first started; in that of the 21st Tirthankara, Naminatha, spiritual thinking leading to the Upanisadic philosophy of atma-vidyā had commenced; and the 22nd Tirthankara, Ariṣṭanemi, had raised his voice against killing animals for food. Parsva advocated the eradication of hatha-yoga practices among the ascetics, since they involved incidental injuries to life without doing any spiritual good to those who indulged in such practices.
The historicity of this twenty-third Tirthankara of the Jaina tradition has now been almost unanimously accepted even by modern scholars.41 Celebrated orientalists like Max Muller, Oldenberg, Bendole, Monier Williams, W. W. Hunter, Harvey, Wheeler, R. G. Bhandarkar,
39 Ibid.
40
Ibid.
41
Cf. The Cambridge History of India, Vol I, p. 153; Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, Vol VII.
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