The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1133 page)

 
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Jainism
.

An ancient Indian
r
ma
ic
religious and philosophical tradition still vigorous today. The religion derives its name from the
jinas
(spiritual victors), a title given to twenty-four great teachers or ‘ford-makers’ (
t
rtha
karas
) whom Jains claim have appeared in the present half-cycle (
avasarpi
) of time. In fact, Jain teaching is uncreated and eternal, being reactivated by the ‘ford-makers’ (as the
Three Jewels
) in unending cycles. In the present cycle, historical evidence clearly reaches back to the last two of these teachers,
Mah
v
ra
(24th), who was a contemporary of the
Buddha
, and
P
r
va
(23rd), but it is evident that these teachers were reviving, restoring, and re-forming a thread of ancient
rama
ic teaching whose origins lie in Indian prehistory and may have links with the
Indus Valley Civilization
(see
ABHA