(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 nmmerman 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.
In the Vedic
tradition the priest had a pre-eminent position as he was the champion of
ritualism. He vigorously claimed that the welfare and indeed the very
existence of the world, including even the Gods, depended upon the
maintenance of their systems of sacrifice, which grew to immense size and
complexity. The cults popularised by him were polytheistic; the deities
were very often the forces of nature; and man was put , at their utter
mercy, the priest alone being capable of saving him by seeking the favour
of the deities through sacrificial rites. This school of thought was more
prominent first in North-West India as the Aryans coming from outside
settled first in that region; but later on it did spread towards the
Eastern and Southern regions of India.
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 mys terious 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.
