Some Aspects of Jainism in Eastern India

Author(s): Pranabananda Jash
Publisher: Munshiram Manoharlal Publisher's Pvt Ltd New Delhi

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CHAPTÉR TWO
Twenty-Four Tirthankaras and Their
Activities and Teachings
Jainism is one of the few religious systems whose distinctive history can be traced in centuries before the Christian era. According to Jair a belief, it is both eternal and universal. It is open to all beings. Traditionally twenty-four tirthankarasi who are credited with the formation of this faith appear ia every kalpa (cycle). Representing an institution of thought for attaining summum bonum as concomitant of the cessation of rebirth, the twenty-four tirthankaras of the Avasarpiņi-kalpa, i e., the present era, made individual contributions in the field of philosophy and religion.
With the attainment of kevala-jñāra or absolute knowledge, the tirthankaras were also designated as kevalins. Heinrich Zimmer nicely explained the characteristic concept of kevalin:
“The noun kevalin, furthermore, is a term used specially to denote the Jaina saint or tirthankara. Cleansed of karmic matter, and thereby detached from bondage, this perfect one ascends in complete isolation to the summit of the universe. Yet, though isolated, he is all pervading and endowed with omniscience; for since his essence has been relieved of qualifying individualizing features, it is absolutely unlimited. Referring to the tirthankara and his condition, the word kevalin thus expresses the two meanings of 'isolated, exclusive, alone', and 'whole, entire, absolute', both being ideas pertaining to the sphere of beatitude in perfection. This is strongly suggestive of the mystic teaching of Plotinus that the final stage in the mystic way is 'the flight of the Alone to the Alone”."
It is an erroneous impression cherished by some scholars that Mahavira was the founder of Jainism. But this is far from truth, since, according to different Indian traditions recorded in the Jaina, Buddhist and Brāhmaṇical texts, there were twenty-three more