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Antiquity of Jaina Tradition
Dr. Vilas Sangave
Jaina Tradition and Hinduism :
The Jaina tradition of 24 Tirthankaras seems to have been accepted by the Hindus, like the Buddhists, as could be seen from their ancient scriptures. The Hindus, indeed, never disputed the fact that Jainism was founded by Rishabadeva and placed his time almost at what they conceived to be the commencement of the world. They acknowledged him as a divine person and counted him amongst their Avataras i. e, various incarnations of Lord Vishnu. They give the same parentage (-father Nabhiraja and mother Marudeyi) of Risabhadeva as the Jains do and they even agree that after the name of Rishabhadeva's eldest son Bharata this country is known as Bharata-Varsha.
So far as the oldest Vedic literature is concerned we find that in the RigVeda there are clear references to Rishabha, the Ist Tirthankara, and to Arishtanemi, the 22nd Tirthankara. The Yajur Veda also mentions the names of three Tirthankaras, viz. Rishabha, Ajitanatha and Arishtanemi. Further, the AtharavaVeda specifically mentions the sect of Vratyas and this sect signifies Jainas on the ground that the term Vratya' means the observer of vratas or vows as distinguished from the performer of sacrifices, which applied to the Hindus at those times. Similarly in the Atharva-Veda the term Maha-Vratya occurs and it is supposed that this term refers to Rishabhadeva, who could be considered as the great leader of the Vratyas.
In the later puranic literature of the Hindus also there are ample references to Rishabhadeva. The story of Rishabha occurs in the Vishnupurana and Bhagavata-Purana, where he figures as an Avatara i. e. incarnation of Narayana, in an age prior to that of ten avataras of Vishnu. The story is exactly identical with the life-history of Rishabhadeva as given in the Jaina sacred literature. In this way Rishabhadeva's life and significant importance narrated in the Jaina literature get confirmed by the account of Rishabha given in the Hindu puranas.
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