The history of the Jaina tradition is amply borne out both by literary and
archaeological evidences. This traditional history of Jainism from the
earliest times to the age of the last Tirthankara Mahavira (6th Century
B.C.) can be consistently traced from the facts maintained by Jaina
religion. In this regard, Jainism primarily assumes that the universe,
with all its constituents or components, is without a beginning or an end,
being everlasting and eternal and that the wheel of time incessantly
revolves like a pendulum in half circles from the descending to the
ascending stage and again back from the ascending stage to the descending
stage. Thus, for practical purposes, a unit of the cosmic time is called
kalpa, which is divided into two parts viz. the avasarpini (i.e.
descending) and the utsarpini (i.e. ascending), each with six-division
known as kalas i.e., periods or ages. It means that at the end of the
sixth sub-division of the avasarpini(i.e. descending half circle) part the
revolution reverses and the utsarpini (i.e. ascending half circle) part
commences where the steps are reversed like the pendulum of a clock and
that this process goes on ad infinitum. Hence the utsarpini part marks a
period of gradual evolution and the avasarpini part that of gradual
decline in human stature, span of life, bodily strength and happiness and
even in the length of each kala or age itself (i.e., the first age being
the longest and the sixth age being the shortest). Moreover, the life in
the first age, the second age and the third age is known as the life of
bhogabhumi (i.e., natural, happy, enjoyment-based life without any law or
society); while life in the remaining three ages viz., the fourth age, the
fifth age and the sixth age, is called the life of karmabhumi (i.e., life
based on individual and collective efforts).
In accordance with this wheel of time, the avasarpini (the descending half
circle) part is continuing at present and we are now living in this part's
fifth age which commenced a few years (3 years and 3 1/2 months) after
Tirthankara Mahavira's nirvana in 527 B.C. As per Jaina scriptures, the
first age of the present avasarpini part was of enormous, incalculable
length and it had the conditions of bhogabhumi when human begins lived in
the most primitive stage which was entirely dependent on nature. In the
second age, therefore, the condition began to show some signs of gradual
decline, but still they were of a happy bhogabhumi stage and in the third
age, the process of degeneration continued further in spite of the
prevailing bhogabhumi stage. But towards the end of the third age, man
began gradually to wake up to his environments, to feel the effects of
deteriorating conditions and to have desire, for the first time, for the
necessity of seeking guidance. Hence to satisfy this need, the fourth age
produced, one after the other, fourteen law-givers or preliminary guides
of human beings known as the Kulakaras or Manus. In the fourth age, the
conditions greatly deteriorated since nature was not benevolent as before
and conflicts among men had begun to appear and the Kulakaras, in
succession, as the earliest leader of men, tried to improve the conditions
in their own simple ways. In the succession of fourteen Kulakaras or Manus
the 14th manu by name Nabhiraya and his wife Marudevi gave birth to Rsabha
or Adinatha who later on became the first Tirthankara or Expounder of
Jaina religion. This Lord Rsabha is considered as the harbinger of human
civilization because he inaugurated the karmabhumi (the age of action);
founded the social institutions of marriage, family, law, justice, state
etc. taught mankind the cultivation of land, different arts and crafts,
reading, writing and arithmetic; built villages, towns and cities; and in
short, pioneered the different kinds of activities with a view to provide
a new kind of social order meant for increasing the welfare of
human-beings. Lord Rsabha had two daughters and one hundred sons. After
guiding human beings for a considerable period of time, Lord Rsabha
abdicated his temporal powers in favor of his eldest son, Bharata, who in
course of time, became the Chakravarti i.e., Paramount sovereign of this
country; led a life of complete renunciation, got Kevala-jnana, i.e.,
supreme knowledge, preached the religion of ahimsa, became the first
prophet of salvation and in the end attained nirvana, i.e., liberation at
Mount Kailasa.
After Lord Rsabha, the first Tirthankara, there was a succession of 23
other Tirthankaras, who came one after the other at intervals varying in
duration. In this way, the Jaina tradition of 24 Tirthankaras was
established in the course of historical times beginning from the first
Tirthankara Lord Rsabha and ending with 24th Tirthankara Lord Mahavira.
Thus it is now an accepted fact that Mahavira (599-527 B.C.) was the last
Tirthankara or prophet of Jaina religion and that he preached the religion
which was promulgated in the 8th century B.C. by his predecessor
Parsvanatha, the 23rd Tirthankara. The historicity of Tirthankara
Parsvanatha (877-777 B.C.) has been established. Parsvanatha, the son of
king Viavasena and queen Vamadevi of the kingdom of Kasi, led the life of
an ascetic, practiced severe penance, obtained omniscience, became a
Tirthankara propagated Jaina religion and attained nirvana or salvation at
Sammed Shikhar, i.e., Parsvanatha as a historical personage and a preacher
of Jaina religion.
The predecessor of Parsvanatha was Nemi-natha or Aristanemi, the 22nd
Tirthankara whose historicity like that of Parsvanatha, can be easily
established. Nemi-natha, according to the Jaina tradition, was the cousin
of the Lord Krsna of the Mahabharata fame as Samudravijaya, the father of
Nemi-natha and Vasudeva, the father of Krsna, were brothers. Nemi-natha
was 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
of Gujarat, he heard the moans and groans of animals kept in an enclosure
for some meat eaters and instantly decided not to marry at all as his
marriage would involve a slaughter of so many innocent animals.
Immediately Nemi- natha renounced his royal title and became an ascetic.
Learning this renunciation of Nemi-natha, the betrothed princess
Rajulakumari or Rajamati also became a nun and entered the ascetic order.
Nemi-natha after achieving omniscience preached religion for a long time
and finally attained nirvana on the Mount Girnar in Junagadh district of
Gujarat. Since this great war Mahabharata is a historical event and Krsna
is an historical personage, his cousin brother Nemi-natha too occupies a
place in this historical picture. There is also an inscriptional evidence
to prove the historicity of Nemi-natha. Dr. Fuherer also declared on the
basis of Mathura Jaina antiquities that Nemi-natha was a historical
personage (vide Epigraphia Indica, I, 389 and II, 208-210). Further, we
find Neminatha's images of the Indo-Scythian period bearing inscriptions
corroborate the historicity of 22nd Tirthankara Neminatha.
Among the remaining 21 Tirthankaras of the Jaina tradition, there are
several references from different sources to the first Tirthankara
Rsabhanatha or Adinatha. Thus the tradition of twenty-four Tirthankaras is
firmly established among the Jainas and what is really remarkable is that
this finds confirmation from non-Jaina sources, especially Buddhist and
Hindu sources.
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