Man!
Thou art thy own
Friend; why wishest
Thou for a friend
Beyond thyself?
---Akaranga Sutra 1:33
Jains revere twenty-four completely enlightened holy men, the last of whom was born in 599 B.C. His predecessor was born in 872 B.C. and that man's predecessor 84,000 years earlier. The first of these twenty-four truly emancipated individuals was said to be the father of Bharata, the ancestor of the rival clans in the Mahabharata epic and the first great king from whom all Indians ("descendents of Bharata") derive their name. These twenty-four liberators are called Tirthankaras, that is, those who have successfully crossed the stream of time to achieve final release and bliss on the other shore.
Huge statues were erected by Jains in the tenth century and later to honor such perfected saints. Carved of alabaster, the idols suggest the sublime translucency of a body purified of material dross. The milk-white stone shines with a glow of divine light while the rigid symmetry and utter immobility of the figures depict an exalted spiritual aloofness. For the Jain, the Tirthankara is a great hero, a spiritual victor, a superman with a powerful chest and shoulders, erect stature, and a strong, expressionless face. One Jaina idol on an Indian hilltop measures 56 1/2 feet in height and 13 feet around the hips, making it one of the largest free-standing figures in the world.
Each has his own special symbol--the bull, elephant, ape, hawk, lightning, swastika, blue lotus, and so forth. While jubilant worshippers throng around his feet, the Jain liberator stands motionless, withdrawn from all earthly cares and blessed with strange, timeless calm. The Tirthankara towers above the world, unmoved by its struggles. His is the peace which the world can neither give nor take away.
Jains claim that their religion is the most ancient faith in India, far older than the Vedas of the orthodox Brahmins. Most Western scholars contend that Jainism began with Mahavira, a contemporary of Buddha, and represents a protest against the sterile Hindu caste system of the eighth century B.C.
However, for some Indologists like Heinrich Zimmer, Jainism embodies earlier Dravidian styles of thought and spiritual experience which pre-date the Aryan invasion. Jainism, they say, is not derived from Brahmin sources but instead reflects the cosmology and anthropology of the pre-Aryan upper class of northeastern India. Although the Aryan invaders overwhelmed the north central and northwestern provinces of the Indian subcontinent, the pre-Aryan nobility of the northeastern states were not all swept off their thrones. In time their descendants were able to reassert themselves. Jainism, we are told, is one example of the revived faith of the surviving princely houses, specifically composed of the native, dark-skinned Dravidian population.
In Zimmer's opinion, the Jain religion is a relatively unsophisticated, clear-cut, and direct manifestation of a philosophy of pessimistic dualism. In the most vivid manner, the twenty four symbolize "the life-searing victory of the transcendent principle over the forces of the flesh."
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