1. Tradition of Tirthankaras
:
Jainism is the
ancient religion of India and during its long and unbroken existence it is
promulgated by 24 Great Preachers known as ‘Jinas’ i.e. ‘Conquerors’ or ‘Tirthankaras’ i.e . ‘Fordmakers across the stream of
existence’. These 24 Tirthankaras are :
1.
Rishabh-natha
2. Ajita-natha
or
Adinatha
3. Sambhava-natha 4. Abhinandana-natha
5. Sumati-natha 6. Padmaprabha
7. Suparshva-natha 8. Chandraprabha
9.
Pushpadanta 10. Shital-natha
or
Suvidhi-natha
11. Shreyamsa-natha 12. Vasupujya
13. Vimala-natha
14.Ananta natha
15. Dharma-natha 16. Shanti-natha
17. Kunthu-natha 18. Ara-natha
19. Malli-natha 20. Muni-suvrata
21. Nami-natha 22. Nemi-natha
23. Parshva-natha
24. Mahavira
or Vardhamana.
Thus the tradition of Tirthankaras begins with Rishabha, the first
Tirthankara, and ends with Mahavira, the twentyfourth Tirthankara. Naturally,
there is a continuous link among these twenty-four Tirthankaras who flourished
in different periods of history in
2.Historicity of the Jaina
Tradition:
The Historicity of this
Jaina tradition is amply borne one both by literary and archaeological
evidences. By the beginning of the 20th century many writers were
under the impression that Mahavira was an imaginary or a legendary
figure. Soon they realised that Mahavira was a historical figure but they
believed that Mahavira and Gautama Buddha are the two names of the same person,
viz. Gautama Buddha. Early researches in the 20th century dispelled this
confusion about Mahavira and Gautama Buddha and established a separate and
different identity of Mahavira. In this way though Mahavira's real and
independent existence was accepted, still he was regarded as the founder of
Jaina religion and as the champion of non-violence who revolted against the
violent practices of Brahmanism. The recent researches in historical and
indological studies carried out by Western and Oriental Scholars have removed
beyond doubt the ideas of former writers about the role of Mahavira and have
now conclusively established the fact that Mahavira is not the founder of
Jaina religion but the promulgator of Jaina religion which was in prevalence in
India, especially in Eastern India from the ancient past. This view is clearly
stated by P. C. Roy Chaudhury in his book 'Jainism in Bihar' in the following
terms: "A common mistake has been made by some of the recent writers in
holding that Jainism was born because of discontent against Brahmanism. This
wrong theory originates because these writers have taken Vardhamana Mahavira as
thv founder of Jainism. This is not a fact.............. The creed had already
originated and spread and Mahavira propagated it within historic times."
Thus it is now an accepted fact that
Mahavira is the Tirthankara or prophet of Jaina religion and that he preached
the religion which was promulgated in the 8th Century B.C. by his predecessor
Parshvanatha, the 23rd Tirthankara. The historicity of Parshvanatha (877-777
B.C.) has been clearly established. Parshvanatha, the son of King Vishvasena and Queen Vamadevi
of Kingdom of Kashi, led the life of an ascetic, practised severe penance,
obtained omniscience, became a Tirthankara, propagated Jaina religion and
attained Nirvana or salvation when he was 100 years of age at Sammet Shikhara,
i.e. Parasnatha hill in Hazaribag District of Bihar State. Parshavanatha often
gets the epithet `a lovable or genial personality'. His pupils like Kesikumara
lived at the time of Mahavira and held minor differences in dogmatic details
though the basic religious ideology was fundamentally the same as that of
Mahavira. Eminent historians like Vincent Smith, R.C. Majumdar, and R.K. Mookarji
regard Parshvanatha as a historical personage and a great preacher of Jaina
religion.
The predecessor of Parshvanatha was Nemi-natha or Arishtanemi, the 22nd
Tirthankara and the historicity of Nemi-natha like that of Parshvanatha, could be
easily established. Nemi-natha was the real cousin of the famous Lord Krishna
of Mahabharata as Samudravijaya, the father -of Nemi-natha, and
Vasudeva, the father of Krishna, were brothers. Nemi-natha possessed a unique
personality due to his great compassion towards animals. This is clearly
revealed by a significant incident in his life. While Nemi-natha was proceeding
at the head of his wedding procession to the house of his bride, Princess
Rajulakumari, the daughter of King Ugrasena, he heard the moans and groans of
animals placed in an enclosure for some meateaters and instantly decided not
to marry at all as his marriage would involve such a slaughter of so many
innocent animals. Immediately Nemi-natha renounced his royal title and became
an ascetic. Leaving this renunciation of Nemi-natha, the betrothed princess
Rajulakumari or Rajamati also became a nun and entered the ascetic order.
Nemi-natha preached religion for several years and finally attained Nirvana on
the Mount Girnar, in Junagadha District of Gujrat State. As Nemi-natha
renounced the world, he did not take part in the fraternal
struggle of Mahabharata like his cousin brother Lord Krishna. Since this Great
War of Mahabharata has to be assumed as
an historical event and Krishna to be an historical personage, then his cousin
brother Nemi-natha is also entitled to have a place in this historical picture
There is also an inscriptional evidence to prove the historicity of Nemi-natha.
Dr. Pran Nath published in the "Times of India" (dated 19th March
1935) a copper plate grant of the Babylonian King Nebuchadnazzar I (1140 B. C.)
found at Prabhaspattan in Gujrat State, which, according to his reading, refers
to the Babylonian King having come to Mount Revet to pay homage to Lord
Nemi-natha.. Dr. Fuherer also declared on the basis of Mathura Jaina
antiquities that Neminatha was an historical personage (vide Epigraphia
Indica, I,389 and II, 208-210). Further, we find Nemi-natha's images
of the Indo-Scythian period bearing inscriptions mentioning his name. These and
many other inscriptions corroborate the historicity of 22nd Tirthankara
Nemi-natha.
Among the remaining 21
Tirth,ankaras of the Jaina tradition, there are several references from
different sources to the first Tirthankara Rishabhanatha or Adinatha. Thus the
tradition of twenty-four Tirthankaras is firmly established among the Jainas
and what is really remarkable about this Jaina tradition is the confirmation of
it from non-Jaina sources, especially Buddhist and Hindu sources.
3. Jaina
Tradition and Buddhism:
As
Mahavira was the senior contemporary of Gautama Buddha the founder of Buddhism,
if is natural that in
the Buddhist literature there are several references of a personal nature of
Mahavira. But it is very significant to note that in Buddhist books Mahavira is
always described as Nigantha Nataputta (Nirgrantha Jnatriputra, i.e., the naked
ascetic of the Jnatr clan) and never as the founder of Jainism. Further in the Buddhist literature
Jainism is not shown as a new religion but is referred to as an ancient
religion. There are ample references in Buddhist books to Jaina naked ascetics,
to worship af.Arhats in Jaina Chaityas or temples and to the
Chaturyama Dharma (i.e. fourfold religion) of 23rd Tirthankara Parshvanatha.
Moreover it is very pertinent
to find that the Buddhist literature refers to the Jaina tradition of
Tirthankaras and specifically mentions the names of Jaina Tirthankaras like
Rishabhadeva, Padmaprabha, Chandprabha, Pushpadanta, Vimala-natha, Dharma-natha
and Nemi-natha. The ‘Dharmottarapradipa', the well-known Buddhist book,
mentions Rishabhadeva along with the name of Mahavira or Vardhamana as an Apta
or Tirthankara. The ‘Dhammikasutta' of the ‘Anguttra Nikaya' speaks of
Arishtanemi or nemi-natha as one of the six Tirthankaras. The Buddhist book
‘Manoratha-Purani”, mentions the names of many lay men and women as followers
of Parshvanatha tradition and among them is the name of Vappa, the uncle of
Gautama Buddha. In fact it is mentioned that Gautama Buddha himself practised
penance according to the Jaina system before he propounded his new religion.
Further, it is significant to
note that the names and numbers of Buddhas, Paccekabuddhas and Bodhisattvas in
Buddhism appear to have been influenced by those of the Jaina Tirthankaras. For
instance, Ajita, the name of the 2nd Jaina Tirthankaras, has been given to one
Paccekabuddha. Padma, the 6th Jaina Tirthankara, is the name of the 8th of the
24 Buddhas. Vimala, a Paccekabuddha, has been named after Vimala-Natha, the 13th Jaina
Tirtliankara.
4. 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 Rishabhadeva 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
Marudevi) of Rishabhadeva as the Jainas 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
Rig-Veda there are clear references to Rishabha, the lst Tirthankara, and to
Arishtanemi, the 22nd Tirthankara. The Yajur-Veda also mentions the names of
three Tirthankaras, viz. Rishabha, Ajitanatha and Arishtanemi. Further, the
AtharvaVeda 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 the 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. asgiven 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.
Thus from the fact that Hindu tradition
regards Rishabha-deva-and not Mahavira-along with Gautama Buddha as-an
incarnation of God, it can be said that the Hindu tradition also accepts
Rishabhadeva as the founder of Jainism.
5. Jaina Tradition and Archaeological Evidence:
From some historical references it can be regarded that Rishabhadeva,
must be the real founder of Jainism. In this connection Dr. Jacobi writes thus,
“There is nothing to prove that Parshva was the founder of Jainism. Jaina tradition is unanimous in making
Rishabha,a the first Tirthankara as its founder and there may be something
historical in the tradition which makes him the first Tirthankara". There is evidence to show that so far
back as the first century B.C. there were people who were worshipping
Rishabh.adeva. It has been recorded that King kharvela of Kalinga in his second
invasion of Magadha in 161 B.C. brought back treasures from Magadha and in these treasures there was the statue of the first Jaina
(Rishabhadeva) which had been carried away from Kalinga three centuries earlier
by King Nanda I.This means that in the 5th Century B.C. Rishabhadeva was
worshipped and his statue was highly valued by his followers. From this it is argued that if Mahavira or
Parshvanatha were the founders of Jainism, then their statues would have been
worshipped by their followers in the 5th Century B.C, i.e. immediately after
their time. But as we get in ancient inscriptions authentic historical
references to the statues of
Rishabhadeva it can be asserted that he must have been the founder of Jainism.
Other archaeological
evidences belonging to the Indus Valley Civilization of the Bronze Age in India
also lend support to the hoary antiquity of the Jaina tradition and suggest the
prevalence of the practice of worship of Rishabhadeva, the lst Tirthankara,
along with the worship of other deities. The recent excavations at Mohenjo-Daro
and Harappa have revealed the real existence of a very well developed Pre-Vedic
and non-Aryan Civilization known as the Indus Valley Civilization. As a result,
history of India can now be traced back to the Indus Valley Period (i.e. about
3500 to B.C.) and not upto the Vedic period (i.e. about 1500 to 1000
B.C.) only as was being done formerly . In fact the recent researches have
shown that there is an organic relationship between the Indus Valley Culture
and the present day Indian
Culture. It is very pertinent to
note that many relics from the Indus Valley excavations suggest the prevalence
of Jaina religion in that most ancient period .
(1)It is observed that in
the Indus Valley Civilization there is a great preponderance of pottery figures
of female deities over these of male deities and that the figures of male
deities are shown naked .In this regard Dr. Earnest Mackay, the renowned
Archaeologist intimately connected with the Indus Valley excavations, mentions
that “For some reason which it is difficult to understand, figures of male
deities in pottery are distinctly rare: They are entirely nude, in contrast
with the female figures, which invariably wear a little clothing; necklaces and
bangles, may be worn, but this is by no means always the case” . `This fact
clearly reveals the traces of Jaina religion among the Indus Valley people as
the worship of nude male deities is a very well established practice in Jaina
religion .
(ii) Further, the figures engraved on the seals found in the excavations
also suggest the same thing. For
example, we find that the figures of six male deities in nude form, are
engraved on one seal (Vide Sir John Marshall: Mohanjo-Daro and the Indus
Civilization, Vol. III , Plate No. 118,
Picture No. B. 426) and that each figure is shown naked and standing erect in a
contemplating mood with both the hands keeping close to the body. Since this
`Kayotsarga' way (i.e. in standing posture) practising penance is peculiar only
to the Jainas and the figures are of naked ascetics, it can be maintained that
these figures represent the Jaina Tirthankaras .
(iii) Again, the figures of male deities in contemplating mood and in
sitting pasture engraved on the seals (Vide Sir John Marshall: Mohanjo-Daro and
the Indus Civilization, Vol. III, (a), Plate No. 116, Picture No. 29 and (b)
Plate No. 118, Picture No. 11) resemble the figures of Jaina Tirthankaras
because in these, the male deities are depicted as having one face only while
the figures of male deities, supposed to be the prototypes of Lord Shiva, are
generally depicted as having three faces, three eyes and three horns (vide Sir
John Marshall: Mohanjo-Daro and the Indus Civilization, Vol. I, Plate No. 12,
Picture No. 17) .
(iv) Moreover, on some seals we find the figure of a bull engraved
below the figure of a nude male deity practising penance in the ‘Kayotsarga’
way i.e. in a standing posture. These figures appear to be the representations
of Rishabhadeva, the 1 st Jaina Tirthankara, because of the facts that among
the 'Jainas there is an established practice of
depicting the Lanchhana i.e. the emblem of each Tirthankara below his idol
and that the emblem of Rishabhadeva is bull.
(v) In addition, the sacred signs
of Swastika
are found engraved on a number of seals (vide Sir John Marshall:
MohanjoDaro and the Indus Civilization, Vol. III, Plate No. 14, Picture Nos.
500 to 515). It is pertinent to note that the Swastika signs engraved on
Seals Nos. 502, 503, 506 and 514 exactly resemble the established Jaina
practise of drawing Swastika signs .
(vi) Further, there are some motifs on the seals
found in Mohanjo-Daro and it is suggested
that these motifs are identical with those found in the ancient Jaina art of
Mathura.
From these archaeological
evidence it can be stated that there are traces of worship of Jaina deities and
that there was the prevalence of worship of Jaina Tirthankara Rishabhadeva alongwith the worship of Hindu
God who is considered to be the prototype of Lord Shiva in the Indus
Valley Civilization. This presence of Jaina tradition in the most early period of Indian history is
supported by many scholars like Dr. Radha Kumud Mookarji, Gustav Roth, Prof. A.
Chakravarti, Prof. Ram Prasad Whanda, T.N. Ramchandran, Champat Rai Jain, Kamta
Prasad Jain and Dr. Pran Nath.
Regarding the antiquity of Jaina tradition of Tirthankaras Major J.G.R.
Forlong (in his books 'Short-studies in the Science of Comparative Religion’)
writes that from unknown times there existed in India a highly organized Jaina
religion from which later on developed Brahmanism and Buddhism and that Jainism
was preached by twenty-two Tirthankaras before the Aryans reached the Ganges.
Dr Zimmerman also strongly supports the antiquity of Jaina tradition in the
following terms. “There is truth in the Jaina idea that their religion goes
back to remote antiquity, the antiquity in question being that of the
Pre-Aryan.” (Vide Zimmerman: The Philosophies of India, p. 60).
6. Jaina
and Vedic Religions Traditions:
The antiquity of Jaina religious tradition can thus be traced back to
the earliest period of Indian history. This Jaina tradition is not only
Pre-Vedic but non-Aryan also. It is
obvious that the Jaina religion was flourishing in India, especially in the
eastern regions of India, where the Aryans came and settled in India. Hence
from the advent of Aryans in India, we find the prevalence of two distinct
religions traditions in India, viz. theVedic and the Jaina religious
traditions. It is true that because of their basic differences in tenets and
practices of religion, these ,two traditions were opposed to each other and
that each tradition did try to dominate the other. In spite of this struggle
we notice that both the traditions did run parallel in India, sometimes one
becoming dominent and sometimes the other.
On
the other hand in the Jaina tradition prominent position was assigned to the ascetic. In
the Eastern region of India, and especially along the fertile banks of the Ganges
and the Jamuna, there flourished a succession of ascetic Teachers, who, hailing
from rich families, had enough leisure for high thinking and religious
meditation. For them, the spirit in man and also in all animate beings, was the
focus of religious meditation as well as an object of investigation in relation
to all that is inanimate in the universe. This brought them face to face with
the problem of life here and elsewhere, since both spirit and matter were real
for them—real, and therefore essentially eternal, though passing through the
flux of change. Life here and hereafter was the result of the beginningless
connection between spirit and matter, which was the source of all the misery in
this world; and the aim of religion was to separate matter from spirit, so that
the latter might achieve a state of liberation in which it would exist in a
plentitude of purity, bliss and knowledge. Man is his own master; his thoughts,
words and the acts have made him, and continue to make him, what he is; it is
in his hands to make or mar his present or future; the great Teachers of the
past are his ideals to inspire him along the path of religion; and he has to
struggle with hope, on the well-trodden path of spiritual progress, following a
code of moral and ascetic discipline, till he reaches the goal of spiritual
emancipation or perfection.
In
view of this ideology there is no place, in the Jaina religious thought, either
for a Deity who shape the universe and meddles in its matters, or for a priest
invested with mysterious powers to propitiate that Deity. This line of thought
is continuosly and forcefully represented by Jaina Tirthankaras right from
Rishabhadeva to Mahavira. Later on a similar line of thought was adopted by
Ajivika Teachers like Gosala, by Sankhya Philosophers like Kapila and
promulgators of Buddhism like Buddha. As these acetic Teachers of different
religions and sects represent virtually the same line of thought; they are said
to belong to one comprehensive tradition known as Shramana Tradition.
Naturally the Jainas are the oldest representatives of Shramana tradition and
Mahavira was the last among the Jaina Tirthankaras who expounded the tradition
for the benefit of living beings.