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TITE JAINA LAW
mistakes. At page 497 we read : "Founder of Jainism was Mahâvira ;” and get the Jaina sects are at each other's throats for the possession of Pareshnath Hill in Hazaribagh as being the place of Nirvana of Pâråsvanath, predecessor of Lord Mahâvira! At page 498 we are told : “Brahmans were their priests," which is misleading, without adding "Jaina Brahmans only," as in Southern India. At page 499: Malâvira discarded clothes, and therefore arose Swetûmbaras and Digambaras. This is entirely wrong: the real explanation is the famine in Northern India which drove the great Bhadrabâlu to the South and the schism was a consequence of this. "Angas and Parvas are denied by the Digambaras” (page 499). Of course, this tremendously ignores the elements of the Digambara Jaina traditions. But it must be admitted that a few correct remarks are also made, though they are not given that weight and consideration in the judgment which is their due, e.g., the Jainas reject the Vedas of the Brahmans (Sir Monier Williams); Jainas ought to be excluded from the category of the Hindus, (per Sir Guru Das Banerji, ex-Judge, Calcutta High Court). Jainas cannot agree with the following résumé of their history : there were no restrictions to begin with, then Jainas dissented from Bindus. Then Brahmins laid down restrictive
