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Lord Mahâvîra
of Magadha, was the centre of worship of serpents of the cult of Naga people (or more probably Naga people).
The Aryans fought and also tried to assimilate the Nagas as also other authoritarian of India. Instances of marriages of Aryan rulers with Naga women are quite well-known. For example, the marriage of Arjun, one of the Pandavas with Ulupi, the daughter of the ruler of Nagas is described in Mahabharat. At the same time there are also descriptions in the works of ancient Indian literature of how the Aryans offered Nagas as sacrifices, burning them alive and how they fought with them with all the means at their disposal. And although the Nagas are called partly snakes and partly half-human beings i.e. semi mythical beings in the much later editions of these works, the fact that the Aryans had fought mercilessly against the local people, whom main cult was the cult of serpents is perfectly apparent.
In view of the fact that this cult stands hitherto highly developed amongst the Dravidians, and also amongst Bhils and Mundas, it is possible to assume that the Aryans called all the local population with which or with a significant part of which they came into collision in India, as Nagas. It is therefore not accidental that the symbol of the serpent (cobra) became one of the chief symbols in all reformative religions and in particular in Jainism. In the Jain iconology Jeena (Jina) is often portrayed sitting under the inflated hood of many headed cobra (as also Buddha in buddhist iconology and Balaram, Krishna's brother, in Krishna iconology.§
One must not glass over the existence of the Pani tribe. Several Indian scholars express the opinion that the doctrine of ahimsa i.e. prohibition of killing of living beings, which is one of the basic prohibitions imposed by Jainism was adopted by the founders of Jainism from, these Pani people as the term 'ayajnik' characterizes the cult of Pani people as a cult which is first of all, not connected with the bloody sacrifices.
Most interesting testimony of the Indo-Himalayan ties in which at the same time, the affirmation of the deep antiquity of the sources of Jainism can also be detected is available. An ethnic
$ Acharya Tulsi has ventured to prove that Mahâvîra was a prince of the Naga Dynasty in an article.
