________________
134
:
śramaņa January-June 2002
Though Jainism is not an Apauruşeya religion, it claims as an eternal religion. The traditions and the legendary accounts prove the existence of Jainism as eternal. Jainism is revealed again and again in cyclic period i.e. Utsarpīņi and Avasarpiņi. This time cycle goes on endlessly and Tirtharkaras or Jinas or seers are born at regular intervals. They preach, practice and expound the eternal principles of Jainism. But this claim of eternity would appear to be very extravagent if we consider the fact that in our planet, the earliest man of early palaeolithic culture lived in India some 200,000 years ago. the period when man led the life of a savage. However, now, number of scholars agree that Jainism has pre-Aryan roots in the cultural history of India.
In the light of modern reasearches, there is a consensus that Jainism is one of the oldest living religion of the world. The Mohanjodaro culture, the Vedic literature and the pre-Mahāvīra period exhibit remarkable traces of the existence of Jainism in this country. As Dr. A.N. Upadhye remarked the origins of Jainism go back to prehistoric times. He further says to take a practical view that the Jaina Tīrtharkaras like Rşabhadeva, Neminātha, Pārsvanātha, Mahāvīra etc. have been some of the greatest mystics of the world. It would be interesting to note that the details about Rşabhadeva given in the Bhāgavata Purāņa practically and fundamentally agree with those recorded by Jaina tradition."
Still there are some scholars who owing to mostly deep-rooted prejudices and other sentimental reasons, persist in believing and asserting that Jainism in an offshoot of Brāhmanism or that Jainas are merely Hindu dissenters like the Buddhists even though their religion is quite independent and much older than the latter. As it would be clear from what has already been said, there are absolutely no grounds for holding such an opinion. There are innumerable references in the Brāhmanic literature from the Vedas down to the Purāṇas and medieval literature, to the Jainas, their religion, its Tirthankaras and even their doctrines, sometimes ridiculing and denouncing them, and sometimes praising and applauding them, while very often misunderstanding and misinterpreting them.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
