250 SKETCH OF THE 



disk of the sun, and for an immense interval around him, wherever he 

 moves, there is neither sickness nor enmity, storm nor dearth, neither 

 plague portents, nor war. Eleven Atisayas of this kind are ascribed to 

 him. The remaining nineteen are of celestial origin, as the raining of 

 flowers and perfumes, the sound of heavenly drums, and the menial of- 

 fices rendered by Indra and the gods. 



Notwithstanding the sameness of the general character and identity 

 of generic attributes, the twenty-four Jinas are distinguished from each 

 other in colour, stature, and longevity. Two of them are red, two white, 

 two blue, two black, the rest are of a golden hue, or a yellowish brown. 

 The other two peculiarities are regulated with very systematic precision, 

 and observe a series of decrement from Ilishahha, the first Jina, who was 

 five hundred poles in stature, and lived 8,400,000 great years to Mahd- 

 vira the 24th, who had degenerated to the size of man, and was not more 

 than forty years on earth. These peculiarities have been detailed by Mr. 

 Colebrooke, in the ninth volume of the Researches, and he draws a pro- 

 bable inference from the return to reason in the stature and years of the 

 two last Jinas, that they alone are to be considered as historical per- 

 sonages. The rest are the creatures of fiction. The notion of decreasing 

 longevity, like that of the existence of human beings, superior to the 

 gods, is common to the Bauddhas* 



* A comparison of the Jain and Bavddha series suggests strong confirmation of the opinion 

 that the Jain legends are only Bavddha notions exaggerated. The ages of the seven Buddhas 

 run thus — 



Vipaswi, 80,000 Years. 



Sikhi, , 70,000 ditto. 



Viswabhii, 60,000 ditto. 



Krakuchchanda, 40,000 ditto. 



Kanaka, 30,000 ditto. 



Kasyapa, 20,000 ditto. 



Sakya, 100 ditto. 



• A. R. vol. XVI. p. 4-53. The last Jina but one, or Parsivanath, lived like Sakya, 100 years. 



