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Lord Mahāvīra's Religious Contemporaries and Sects
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where everything living or non-living was available. It is said that there were nine such shops in Ujjeni during the reign of Chandapajjoya.
From about the sixth century B.C., the old Vedic religion and practices gradually underwent transformation, and formed some sort of a new religion. Although the final form of this new religion is not clearly perceptible, its beginnings were marked in this age by the adoption of theistic Vaishnavism and saivism within the fold of the Brahmanical religion. These two theistic religions centred round two deities, Vishņu and Siva, and they both emphasized devotion.
The first step in the evolution of Vaishnavism was the identification of Vāsudeva-Kțishna with the Vedic deity Vishnu, standing originally for the 'Sun'. This reference in the Chhāndogya Upanishad seems to point to a date in the seventh or sixth century B.C. Next, that Vāsudeva-Kộishiņa-Vishnu was identified with a sage Nārāyaṇa, is clear from the BaudhaJana Dharmasūtra. This Bhāgavata or Vaishnava religion scems to have originated first with the Yādava-Sätvata-Vșishņi people of the Mathura area.
The cult of Śiva probably goes back to a very early period. That it was current among the non-Aryans of the preVedic period is obvious from the fact that some scholars have identificd the figures on seals with Siva who is also identified with the Vedic god Rudra. In the Svetāśvatara Upanishad, Siva figures as the Great God (Mahādeva) superior to the Vedic pantheon.
Belief in heaven and liell was widespread at this date and it was said that those who perform various noble acts attain heaven, while those who indulge in evil acts go to hell.
