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66
RISABHA DEVA
But what are we to say to those wiseacres who think that Jainism only came into existence in the time of Mahavira or at the earliest in that of Parsva Nath, and the earlier two and twenty Tirthamkaras are the outcome of the Jaina imagination? Some of these intellectual giants had at one time relegated the Jaina Creed to the position of an offshoot of Buddhism, that was deemed to have arisen in the sixth century of the Christian era! But to-day the historicity of Parśva Nath is beyond dispute. What is really remarkable about the Jaina account is the confirmation of the number four and twenty itself from non-Jaina sources. The Hindus, indeed, never disputed the fact that Jainism was founded by Rişabha Deva in this half-cycle, and placed His time almost at what they conceived to be the commencement of the world ! They recognised His Divinity fully, acknowledged that He was Omniscient, and counted Him amongst their avatāras. They give the same parentage of Rişabha Deva as the Jainas do ; they even agree that His son was the Emperor Bharata who lent his name to India, that is to say, after whom India came to be known as Bhāratvarsa, If this is not history and historical confirmation I do not know what else would be covered by these terms. There is even an old inscription in the
