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104
Lord Mahavira
follow in which the universe will be devastated, and would disappear but for the fact that it is eternal. But at last the wheel will turn and an upward revolution will begin, heralded by seven kinds of rain which will make seeds grow again on the earth. Then a new age will come, in which twenty-four new Tirthankaras will appear. So in fact the twenty-four Tirthankaras of our era are only a small part of an endless cycle of these exalted ones, who appear at irregular intervals to establish Dharma. This eschatology corresponds to Hindu and Buddhist ideas of the future. In predictions of the future Jinas there are several more names from the Krishna mythology. The first ten Jinas are named and the eleventh will be Devaki, the mother of Krishna who at present is working out her karma in the eighth world of the gods. The twelfth future Jina will be Krishna himself, under the name of Amama. The fourteenth jina will be' Krishna's brother, Baladeva, and the sixteenth is Y, Krishna's stepmother, Rohini 'the mother of Baladeva. The twentieth Jina will be another relative of Krishna, Kunika.9
These references, and others in recorded accounts of the mythology, show the great popularity of the Krishna cult, not only among Hindus but among Jains at the time when their scriptures were being compiled, in the early Christian centuries. There is no rejection of Hindu, myth, and the Avatars are adapted in some degree to the succession of Jinas. The Jinas are not only spiritual pioneers, but, like Avatars and Buddhas, they have become objects of devotion. Although in theory the Jinas have passed beyond worldly concern and cares for mortal beings, there are texts which show the religious impulse overcoming doctrine. In the lives of sixty-three famous men, by the great Jain teacher Hemachandra (died A.D. 1172), there are praises of the twenty-four Jinas by name and appeals are made for their help. 'May the blessed Abhinanda give great joy. ....May the blessed Lord Sumati grant your desires.... May the Jina Sitala protect you.... May Sreyamsa, the sight of whom is a physician for creatures, be for your emancipation....May the [blessed Lord Arishtanemi destroy your misfortunes. May the] Lord Parsvanatha be for your emancipation. May there be good fortune from Holy Vira's eyes, whose pupils are wide with compassion even for sinful people, moist with a trace of tears.' The last clause refers especially to Mahâvîra's known
