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Jainism Before Mahâvîra
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age when people were illiterate and did not know any art. He is said to have taught the arts of cooking, writing, pottery, painting and sculpture for the first time. In his time came into existence the institution of marriage, the ceremony of cremating the dead, building of the mounds and the festivals in honour of Indra and the Nagas. We may, thus, call him the great pioneer in the history of human greatness.
It is argued that there is a reference to Lord Rishabha in the Vedic lirerature. Some Vedic preceptors paid reverence to Lord Rishabha, and regarded him Lord of Lords. In the Rgveda and in the Taittiriya Aranyaka' Vatarasanas have been used in the sense of Sramanas. There is also mention of Vatarasana and in the same context, there is an excellent tribute to Kesi. 10 This Kesi indicates Rishabha because in Jaina literature, there is a tradition that Lord Rishabha was called Kesi. Even on ancient images of Lord Rishabha, locks of hair are noticed. In the Rovedal Kesi has been mentioned along with Vrshabha. It is more probable that the life of Lord Rishabha in Vratyakhanda of the Artharvaveda is a metaphorical name. From this, it is argued that Vrishabha lived before Vedic times and was the first fountain of Sramana culture. It is from the context of the Rgveda that Lord Rishabha has been depicted as sponsor of Vatarasana Sramanas in the Bhagavata Puranal2 the eight century A.D.
Against this, it may be argued that though in the Ryveda and the other Vedic literature, Rishabha has been mentioned many times, its meaning has been controversial because of different interpretations. There is no evidence of Rishabha being mentioned as the founder of Jainism in Vedic literature. Even in the time of Mahâvîra, Rishabha was not known as the founder, of Nirgrantha sect from any contemporary source. From about the fourth or third century B. C. it seems that Rishabha became popular as the first Jina, the first Tîrthankara and the founder of Jainism. Like the imaginary “Manu of Brahmanical literature, he has been described as the first ruler and the founder of new social order. Neminatha as Tirthankara:
Besides Rishbhadeva, Arishtanemi or Neminatha has been also mentioned as the Tìthankara of the Jainas in the Kalpasutra. He was born of queen Siva, wife of king Samudravijaya in the
