________________
LO
130
Lord Mahavira the kshatriyas. This confirms our suggestion that the conception kshatriya, as mentioned in Chapter I covered all the males, related by blood of the family-kin group.
If one agreed with the idea that the doctrine of reformatory faiths was formed in Bihar, absorbing many elements of the cults and faith of the local pre-Aryan tribes of north India, then it is worthwhile acknowledging that these elements went on accumulating gradually before adopting the form of new religiousphilosophic-ethical system. This gradual assimilation, this fusion of religious and cult-ideas of quite a number of above mentioned tribes inust have started in all probability in north west India, i.e. where Aryans first appeared as an expression of their protest against the forcible introduction of religious modes and laws of Brahmanism, foreign to them.
Many elements of the customary rites of local peoples and their traditions formed a part of these ideas. Thus, affirmation of anti-Vedic krishnaism was evident in the region of Mathura, which was connected with the existence of institutes of matrilineal succession. Here, amongst tribes, who had developed institutes of matriarchy, a protest arose against the humiliating position, leading women to the patriarchal society of the Aryans. And this was later accepted by Jainism. It is evident that the gradual rise of separate, elements of Jainism was reflected in the teaching of Jains about the existence of the 23 Tirthankars, who created and preached that religion even before Mahâvîra Jina.
It is considered that the first of these 24 Tirthankars, Rishabha, who lived immeasurably long, long ago, performed the asectic feat in Prayag (Allahabad); the 16th, 17th and 18th Tirthankars (Shanti, Kunthu and Are) reached enlightenment in Hastinapur (near the modern city of Meerut); 23rd Tirthankars (Parshvanath or Parshva) was born, lived and preached in Kashi (Benaras) and finally the 24th Tirthankar (Mahâvîra) was born in the East, in Vaishali. Possibly the initial forms of Jainism marched forward from west to east, through Kashi and by the time of Mahâvîra's birth, new religious faith reached the confederation of Vajji, and it developed and completed its development there.
In the Purans, it is said that the first Tirthankar, Rishabha performed acts of Yoga, which were incomprehensible to the people (possibly, it should be read, to the Aryans) and he was
