Mahavira and his Philosophy of Life

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

Page 20

the welfare of the Jivas and strengthened the Sramanic Dharma preached by Tirthankara Rsabha. It will not be idle to point out that the Tirthankara Nami, the 21st Tirthankara, who was born at Mithila in Videha seems to have given rise to the spiritualistic thought of the Upanisads. The twenty-second Tirthankara Aristanemi (Neminātha), who was the first cousin of Lord Krsna preached against killing animals not only for the sake of religion but also for food. “Krsna himself had great respect for this apostle of Ahiṁsā.” "Aristanemi and Krsna, their contemporaries, the Pāndavas and the Kauravas, and the Mahābhārata War are generally assigned by modern scholars to about the 15th century B.C."
It may be noted here that according to Dr. G.C. Pandey "the anti-ritualistic tendency, within the Vedic fold, is itself due to the impact of an asceticism which antedates the Vedas. It is recognised that “some of the relics, recovered from the excavations at Mohen-jo-daro and Harappā, are related to Sramana or Jaina tradition. “The nude images in Kāyotsarga, i.e., the standing posture lost in meditation, closely resemble the Jaina images of the Kusaņa period. Kāyotsarga is generally supposed to belong to the Jaina tradition. There are some idols even in Padmāsana pose”. "Even after the destruction of the Indus civilization, the straggling. oulture of the Sramanas, most probably going back to pre-Vedic times, continued even during the Vedic period as is indicated by some such terms as Vátarasana, Muni, Yati, Šramana, Kesi, Vrātya, Arhan and Siśnadeva”. "There can hardly be any doubt that the Muni was to the Rgvedic culture an alien figure”. “In the Rgveda, Arhan has been used for a Sramana leader." "The mention of Śisnadevas (naked gods) in the Rgveda is also
Mahavira and his Philosophy of Life