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HISTORICITY OF TIRTHANKARA PARSVANATHA AND HIS WORSHIP
Dr. N. Vasupal*
The traditional belief among the Jains is that their faith is beginningless. The Tirthankaras re-established Dharma-Teertha, the mission of their faith, in various eras. A Tirthankara is one, who is born as a man on this earth, attains spiritual perfection with his own efforts and shows the same path of perfection for others. In the present Avasarpini era, 24 Tirthankaras were born in long intervals of time. Among these Tirthankaras, Bhagvan Rishabha is the first Tirthankara and Bhagvan Vardhamana-Mahavira is the last Tirthankara. Bhagvan Parsvanatha the 23rd Tirthankara is accepted as a historical personage by good number of scholars.
It is surprising that the Jains never made efforts to bring out the ages long historicity of their faith, and as a result, the non-Jains tend to believe that just as the Buddhism was established by Lord Buddha, in the same manner, Lord Mahavira founded Jainism and this view gained currency among the common people also.
But during the last century a healthy trend towards entering into research-oriented study of Jaina scriptural literature gained momentum. The German scholars were first to embark on this venture. Many of them even devoted their entire life in such research works, and Prof. Hermann Jacobi's name is mentioned with great reverence in the matter. He not only studied thoroughly almost all the available scriptures in Ardhamagadhi but also edited and translated some of them in English. His books were published under the title "Sacred Books of the East", years ago by the
Professor & Head, Dept. of Jainology, University of Madras, Chennai
