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śramaņa, Vol 55, No. 1-6/January-June 2004
monk, practised grave penance and achieved spiritual enlightenment, propounded the faith and preached it for nearly seventy years before he ultimately attained nirvāņa atop Sammedaśikhara (Pärasnáth Hill) in the Jharkhand state. Before him, the twenty-second Prophet, Lord Aristanemi, was a cousin of Lord Krsna and there could be little doubt about his historical veracity. He lived and preached in the Saurāṣtra region in the western India and attained nirvāņa atop the Orjayantagiri or Mt. Girnar.
Similarly, historical instances are found in the Jaina lore about the remaining twenty Tīrthankaras as well and there is no reason to question their historicity in the absence of evidence to the contrary.
Also, there is ample archaeological evidence to prove that the Jainism did not originate with the accepted historical figure - Lord Pārsvanātha, but aeons ago with Lord Rsabhadeva, who is referred to as Adinātha (the first lord) for this very reason. The following is an account of such archaeological evidence? :
A. It has been recorded that king Khåravela of Kalinga, in his second invasion of Magadha in 161 BC, brought back an idol of Agrajina or the first Jina (Rşabhadeva), which had been carried away from Kalinga three centuries earlier by king Nanda-I. This shows that in the 5th century BC, Lord Rsabhadeva was worshipped and that his idol was highly valued by his followers.
B. In the Indus valley excavations some nude male terracotta figures were found. It clearly shows that Jaina faith was followed by the people of the Indus valley civilisation as the worship of nude male deities is a very well-established practice in Jainism.
C. On one of the seals were found engraved nude figures of six male deities standing in contemplative mood with their hands held very close to their bodies' (Kāyotsargamudrā). This practice of contemplating in standing posture is peculiar only to the Jainas. This shows that the figures were of Jaina ascetics.
D. The figures of male deities in contemplative mood in standing or sitting postures resemble the currently worshipped figures of Jaina Tirtharikaras.
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