Mahavira and his Philosophy of Life

Author(s): Kamalchand Sogani
Publisher: Jain Vidya Samsthan

Page 19

mentioned in the Jaina scriptures. Dr. Radhakrishnan opines. "There is evidence to show that so far back as the first century B.C. there were people who were worshipping Rsabhadeva, the first Tirthankara. There is no doubt Jainism prevailed even before Vardhamana or Pārsvanātha. The Yajurveda mentions the names of three Tirthankaras : Rsabha, Ajitanātha and Aristanemi. The Bhagavata Purāna endorses the view that Rsabha was the founder of Jainism." Dr. Jacobi writes : "Jaina tradition is unanimous in making Rsabha the first Tirthankara as its founder and there may be something historical in the tradition which makes him the first Tirthankara. “There is evidence to show that so far back as the first century B.C. there were people who were worshipping Rsabhadeva. It has been recorded that King Khāravela of Kalinga in his second invasion of Magadha in 161 B.C. brought back treasures from Magadha and in'these treasures there was the statue of the first Jaina (Rsabhadeva) which had been carried away from Kalinga three centuries earlier by King Nanda I. This means that in the 5th Century B.C. Rsabhadeva was worshipped and his statue was highly valued by his followers." "We get in ancient inscriptions authentic historical references to the statues of Ķsabhadeva, so it can be asserted that he must have been the founder of Jainism."
Rsabha or Adinātha was born in Ayodhyā. He attained Kevala Jñāna (supreme knowledge) at Prayāga (Allahabad) and embraced Nirvana at Mount Kailāśa (in Tibet). His eldest son, Bhārata was the first Cakravartin, after whose name this country is known as Bhāratavarsa. Rsabha is the first preacher of Ahimsa Dharma. The rest of the Tirthankaras propagated the Ahimsā Dharma for
Mahavira and his Philosophy of Life