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The list again appears to be of a stereotyped character. The names of some of the Tirthamkaras have been immortalised even in the Brahmanical and Buddhistic traditions. But whatever the traditions may say, there is no way of establishing the authenticity of the list.
The list, therefore, seems to have been contrived for proving a great antiquity of the religon. In order to give a religious sanctity to this fanciful antiquity the Jainas blended it with their theological doctrine. It only tries to inculcate that Jainism was not a new faith but one that was as old as time itself and illustrates the popular Jaina belief in the alternate creation and destruction of the universe. Under these circumstances no one can consider the first twenty-four Tīrthamkaras as historical personages. Some recent attempts have been made to prove the real existence of Vāsudeva, the relative of Aristanemi, or Neminātha, the 22nd Tīrthamkara. If the conclusions be well established we can find some clue through which the historicity of Aristanemi also can be established. But in the present state of our knowledge that appears to be a hopeless task. He is, besides, believed to have lived for 1000 years and this preposterous duration goes against any presumption about the historicity of Ariştanemi. So far as our knowledge goes for the present we are not justified in placing any confidence upon the traditions regarding him or in tracing the beginnings of the Jaina religion from him.
Historical data however enable us to expel the doubts regarding the real cxistence of the last two Tīrthamkaras, viz. Pārsvanātha and Mahāvīra. Pārsvanātha, the immediate predecessor of Mahāvīra is said to have flourished some 250 years before the advent of the latter. In view of the fact that for all practical purposes we cannot but consider Pārsvanātha, as the first historical promulgator of the Jaina religion, let us examine the traditions that centre round him and determine his real position in the history of the religious evolution of the Jainas. (3) Pārsvanātha : The traditional account of his life
The Jaina traditions are unanimous in saying that Pārsvanātha flourished about 817 B.C. It is distinctly related in the Jaina Kalpasūtra that he was born in Benares in an auspicious moment, with all the royal prerogatives, being the son of King Aśvasena and Queen Vāmā. The queen, before giving birth to the future Tīrthamkara became subject to those happy dreams which are always the precursors of the advent of a great man. The tradition tells us, furthermore, that when the Bhagavān was in the embryo, the mother saw a serpent by her side (9780). This is why the
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