Jain Journal 1972 04

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication
Catalog link: https://jainqq.org/explore/520026/1

Page #1

A QUARTERLY
ON JAINOLOGY
VOL. VI
APRIL 1972
No. 4
Jain JOUrnal
luo had 1
JAIN BHAWAN PUBLICATION

Page #2

Contents:
An Introduction to True Religion 137
W. G. Trott
The Doctrines of Jainism 153 Navtattva. K. B. Jindal
Jainism in Indian History 175
S. B. Deo
The Contributions of the Jainas to Indian Culture 209 J. P. Jain

The Indus Valley Civilisation 223
V. G. Nair
Plates:
The Cult of Penance 137 (coloured painting)
J. S. Bothra
Twentyfour Tirthankaras (print) 158
Photographs:
Transfer of Mahavira's Embryo, Mathura 190
Saka Ladies Worshipping the Triratna, Mathura 190
A Colossus, Sravana Belgola 206
Prototype Jina with Triratna, Mahenjodaro 222
Statuette, Harappa 222
Tirthankara, Lohanipur 222

Page #3

Everything that exists is a substance of some kind. This primary fact should be the basis of all religion and philosophy for the simple reason that anything which is not a substance has no real existence at all or 'exists' only in the mind as an idea. We should make sure that our ideas of life and our ideas of the universe correspond to reality. Substance is the only reality. The term substance means—that of which everything consists; the essence of everything that has a real concrete existence.
There are two main classes of substance in the universe : (1) the living substance (known as the soul-substance) and (2) the non-living substance (known as matter). All the substances that comprise the universe fall into one of these two categories, or are a combination of the two. In other words, these two kinds of substance make up the entire universe. All our knowledge should be based on these essential facts, otherwise we shall have to bear the liability to delusion, arising from false knowledge, i.e., ideas that have no correspondence to reality.
All substance, both living and non-living is eternal, non-created, without beginning and without end.
It is rather difficult at first, to form a conception of everything being eternal and without any kind of beginning or ending. Eternity means permanence ; and do we not see evidence all around us of continual change? What we perceive as always changing, however, are compounds; and compounds are combinations of two or more substances. The simple, indivisible substances are changeless and permanent. The elements of matter, for instance, are scientifically known to be indestructible. Anything incapable of being destroyed is permanent and without beginning. This attribute is common to all substances, both living and non-living.
For the benefit of those who says that this does not appeal to their reason, a brief outline will be given of the general philosophic reasoning which supports the teaching that all substances are eternal.
Anything which has a real, concrete existence (i.e., substance) cannot suddenly or gradually appear from non-existence. Non-existence is a term meaning nothing whatsoever, therefore non-existence is always and continually nothing. If there was ever a time when substances were non-existent, there would still be no substance and no universe. Even a supposed Supreme Being cannot be deemed to break

Page #4

140
the rule that existence and non-existence are two contradictory terms. Magic is not entertainable in true religion or true philosophy.
JAIN JOURNAL
There remains of course, the argument that if a Supreme God did not create substances out of nothing, He created them either (1) from some substance already existing and eternal, or (2) from His own sub
stance.
It is not necessary to say (1) that substances were created from some other substance already existing, for we may just as well acknowledge that the now existing substances may be eternal. In any case, substances never change their nature and we never find one substance arising from another; for example, compounds of matter are ever changing, but the elements which make up compounds always remain the same.
Regarding the remaining theory (2) that a Supreme God created living and non-living substances out of His own substance; it is very difficult to find out first of all what is meant by God, excepting as a mental abstraction, evolved from a fallacious idea of a first cause. We frequently hear of God being described as the "first cause", or the "universal mind", but these terms are meaningless in themselves, and by no means explain the substance of God.
If God means the living substance, then it may be said without hesitation that dead, unconscious matter, though possessed of forces, cannot possibly arise out of the living, conscious, intelligent substance; neither of course, can the conscious, intelligent substance be created from non-living matter. The scientific explanation of this is the attributes of each of these two kinds of substance, living and non-living, are totally different, and they have nothing in common with each other, save the fact of existence as substance. We must not shut our eyes to scientific reality and introduce a God with a magic wand, who creates non-living matter out of the living substance.
The sweeping statement that many un-thinking people make, namely, "God can do anything", is not likely to lead us to a knowledge of truth, because it can be used to cover up anything when false reasoning comes to a standstill. The question of creation does not arise at all when the eternal nature of substance is understood.
The universe, therefore, as a whole is eternal, and is self-subsisting and self-operating by the natural forces which are eternally inherent in

Page #5

APRIL, 1972
141
all substances. The infinite number of souls (living substance), which inhabit the universe, are likewise eternal and self-subsisting.
The Soul :
We have seen that all substance is divided into two distinct classes, living and non-living. The living substance is the animating energy of life, and is known as the soul. It is the living soul with which we are primarily concerned. When the nature of the soul is known the mystery of life is solved.
What is the soul ? Philosophers of all ages have tried to solve this problem. Some of them have partly hit on the truth. Thus, for example: “That mind or soul is immaterial, is beyond question ; but whether we should say, like Descartes, that it is an immaterial substance is another question.” The first part of this statement is perfectly true-mind or soul is immaterial. The question of whether it is a substance is soon determined. If the soul is real and not just an abstract term, then it is undoubtedly a substance.
The question then arises : is the soul a reality? The fact is, so many people identify themselves with the body, that the term soul is almost meaningless. That which feels, thinks, and knows, in a word, yourself, is not the body. It must be realized that the body is made of matter, and matter in itself is absolutely dead and unconscious. It may now be understood why the soul is called the living substance, separate and distinct from non-living substances.
The attributes of the soul-substance, among others, are life, consciousness and intelligence. The soul, therefore, is life, knowledge and feeling : these three are aspects of one and the same thing, and apart from the soul, they have no meaning whatsoever. You are this living substance, which is, at the same time, knowledge, feeling and energy.
Knowledge and the soul are the same. Where there is knowledge there is the soul, and one is never apart from the other. Books are not knowledge, they are only the records of it. Knowledge is the result of knowing, and it means the awareness of the soul. Most people make the mistake of imagining knowledge to be something which is apart from oneself. This is because, in ordinary humanity, knowledge is only 'evoked' by means of contact with external objects, via the five senses and the intellect. Actually, the soul itself is the knower hence the soul is knowledge itself ; that is why it is called the intelligent substance.

Page #6

142
JAIN JOURNAL
The term knowledge is often used in the collective sense, i.e., the sum-total of everything which is known, and has been known, by all the innumerable, different intelligences in the world. All souls, however, are alike in respect of their capacity for knowledge and what is known by all collectively, can be known by each and every one individually. The great differences displayed by persons in respect of their available knowledge, is due, in each case, to the presence of knowledge-obstructing forces in the soul, which, in some types of humanity, are so great as to deprive them of almost all capacity for knowledge (e.g., insane persons).
The fact remains that knowledge and the soul are inseparable; knowledge apart from the understanding cannot be found anywhere in the world. It is important to understand this clearly, because it must be realized that the soul, being knowledge itself, has the capacity for knowing all things. A fully developed consciousness perceives everything, throughout all space and time. Knowledge unlimited is the very nature of the soul.
There are a large number of people in the world, who believe every soul to be a part of one great 'Universal Mind'. This is contrary to the teaching of the true scriptures. The idea has no doubt arisen from the fact of each individual mind being universal itself, in the sense that the perfected intelligence pervades the entire universe, so to speak, through its power of infinite perception. It is really another way of saying that the soul has the capacity for perfect knowledge.
Every soul is an independent unit and is eternal, uncreated, imperishable, immortal ; it is without beginning and without end. Death makes no difference to the immortality of the soul ; it is only the body which dies, the soul being for ever indestructible.
All souls are alike in essence, but owing to the fact that inimical forces come into contact with the soul-substance, depriving it of its natural qualities and functions, there are actually two kinds of souls : (1) the impure, embodied souls, and (2) the pure, bodiless spirits.
The first class are all involved in varying degrees of pain, unhappiness and all undesirable things connected with embodied life. Those of the second class are the perfect ones who have attained the very highest condition of life. To know what this state of being means, is to know the potentiality of your own soul, for all are alike in essence. This is

Page #7

APRIL, 1972
one thing which everyone is seeking either consciously or unconsciously, namely, happiness. The kind of happiness enjoyed by the perfect ones is beyond the imagination of ordinary humanity.
143
Happiness is the natural functioning of pure spirit. In its pure state, the soul possesses the four attributes of infinite life, infinite joy, infinite knowledge, and infinite power. In other words, every soul is divine and has the potentiality of omniscience. There is the teaching of those Great Souls who in past ages actually attained to omniscience, and who are now living in another part of the universe in eternal life, completely free from all pain, misery and death.
What are the forces that impose limitations on the spirit-substance and prevent it from manifesting its natural omniscient state? The forces which prevent individuals enjoying their own, pure state or divine life are physical or material. These forces of matter are attracted to the soul-substance by means of desire.
Now, desire is an attitude of the soul that is constantly seeking to extract enjoyment from external things. Through its desiring nature, the soul is continually attracting to itself forces of matter. This almost ceaseless activity, foreign to its real nature, throws the soul into a state of darkness or unenlightenment, and at the same time causes it to "evolve out" a material body.
In the course of time, the soul leaves the body in death, and as soon as the life-substance is departed, the body begins to decompose. The soul, however, being imperishable, lives on and is immediately attracted (through its material forces) to another re-birth, when the process of birth, growth and death is again experienced.
If the nature of the soul is properly studied, it will be found that re-incarnation is a very real fact of life, and not a mere superstition as most people imagine it to be.
The kind of birth, body and type of intelligence which the ego makes for itself, depends on the kind of material forces acquired during its previous life, or lives.
The process of re-incarnation is entirely automatic, its operation depending on the magnetic properties of the soul, due to the forces of

Page #8

144
matter in combination with it. The soul has been undergoing transmigration from beginning-less time, and will always continue to do so until the state of self-realization is attained.
JAIN JOURNAL
On this earth, there are innumerable forms of life, ranging from human beings, the highest type, down to minute organisms. Life is the soul and the soul is the life. No form of life is evolved from dead matter, which is a non-living substance, and it therefore naturally follows that where there is life there is the presence of the life-substance, which is the same thing as the soul. Therefore, all forms of life, whether human, animal or plant-life, are possessed of the soul-substance in varying degrees of evolution or enlightenment.
All living beings on this earth are a combination of soul and matter, but it is the soul which is the living energy. Where the forces of matter exercise the greatest influence over the soul-substance, there we find the lowest development of life, beginning from the one-sensed forms of life up to the five-sensed animals; and then we come to the human being, who, in addition to the five senses, possesses the central organ of mind (or mental equipment) by which he is able to deliberate, reflect and
reason.
The higher forms of animals are also apparently possessed of a mind organ in a very crude and undeveloped state; they know in a limited way and they quickly respond to intelligent treatment by human beings, but are unable to reason or deliberate for themselves: consequently they live only in the senses.
In the human kingdom, we find many varying degrees of enlightenment. The highest and noblest characters are those who have conquered their desiring nature (passions) to a great degree. These souls are relieved or lightened to great extent of the crippling forces of matter, hence the term 'enlightened'. In these persons the soul displays much of its natural beauty and power.
On the other hand, there are those who continually give way to their innumerable desires and probably evolve out an animal nature. This kind of nature possesses the four associated passions of greed, anger, pride and deceit, in their worst forms. Greed, of course, is but another name for desire, and includes all kinds of bodily appetites. These unfortunate souls are doomed to find themselves, after this life, in conditions which suit their passionate or animal nature, which means

Page #9

APRIL, 1972
145
they would descend into a lower form of life ; perhaps into a bad human form or into the animal kingdom, or even worse.
The natural law which governs our conditions of rebirth and our circumstances in life, etc., is only a matter of cause and effect. It is called the law of karma and can be made to work either for or against us, just as we choose.
The main thing to remember is, the more we 'enlighten' ourselves of the forces of darkness (matter), the more does the soul-nature reveal itself, and we have the power of making for ourselves the very best conditions of life and happiness. This power is within us, all the time, and can be developed with self-knowledge and the effort of self-realization.
Self-realization :
There are comparatively very few people in the world who realize their divine nature. The ideals of the modern world scarcely permit this knowledge becoming general, and certainly the present ways of living make it very difficult for the voice of truth to be heard.
In a civilization where a quick wit, a polished tongue and a smart outfit are the standards of judgment-permitting self-gratification and money-grabbing to masquerade as culture—it is hardly likely we shall find any sense of divinity: indeed, it seems almost irreverent to associate the term divinity with the former thought.
Truth and humbug cannot flourish together. Diplomacy often furnishes good examples of the modern art of saying one thing and meaning another. Even in our individual relationships we find that conceit, resentment, deception and covetousness all bask in the sunshine of suave speech. Let us rid ourselves of these deluding passions, so as to establish in our hearts the noble qualities of humility, patience, truthfulness and self-denial, for they are the characteristics of true culture.
This can only be done successfully in the light of true knowledge ; knowledge of the highest ideal of life-divinity or self-realization. Before this sublime state of the soul can be fully understood, it is first necessary to know the fundamental principle that is always guiding the enlightened soul on the path of self-realization.
The one great thing that makes for self-relization is the cultivation of universal love, which gradually releases the higher spiritual vibrations of the soul. This is the root-principle of true religion.

Page #10

146
JAIN JOURNAL
Universal love means something quite different from the strong sense of attachment to a few private individuals only, such as a lover, friend, members of the family, etc. Universal love, as its name implies, is a real sense of compassion and mercy directed towards the whole of living nature, and includes all life, whether human or non-human.
To attain this end, true religion fobids the killing or injuring of any living beings, human or otherwise, excepting in self-defence. All living beings are possessed of the divine life-substance and if we fail to recognise this, we fail to recognize our own divine soul.
What mercy or love is there in the killing of dumb, defenceless, living creatures for the gratification of appetite ? The body can be kept in perfect health without all this, if one is sufficiently enlightened in the matter.
It is forbidden, therefore, to kill any mobile, living being for the purpose of gratifying an appetite for flesh foods. It must not be assumed that because one does not actually kill the animals which are eaten, this law is not broken. It is the demand that causes all the wholesale slaughtering of animals, birds, etc.
Universal love, then, consists mainly in overcoming one's own selfish desires ; they are the cause of all killing and injuring. All life is sacred, and it is this principle which needs to be installed in the heart. This very same principle will then automatically be brought to bear on all human problems.
The real causes of war will be found in the four passions of pride, anger, deceit and greed. In the case of war, they have a national aspect instead of an individual one.
There are two kinds of peace : external, communal peace and the internal peace of each individual soul. The first is necessarily dependent on the second. Any community (including the community of nations) which has not a majority of peace-loving individuals, will certainly not remain peaceful for any great length of time.
There need be no doubt as to what constitutes peace. You have only to instil the principle of control of the four great passions, to provide a solution to the problem. The spirit of self-restraint is the basis of all broad-mindedness and generous forbearance ; it is the spirit which makes staunch friendships and converts enemies into friends ; the spirit, indeed, which produces happiness itself.

Page #11

APRIL, 1972
147
Happiness is a matter of the internal psychology of the soul, and is not to be found elsewhere. No amount of pious hopes or prayers will bring us true happiness, nor release us from the bondage of embodied life with all its liability to pain and suffering. What is to be done is to stop the influx of deadly matter into the soul, by curbing our desires and passions, and then to root out all the karmic forces which are at present in combination with it.
The means of accomplishing all this is known as the path of salvation, and consists of right faith, right knowledge and right action: these three together, not separately, are the only means by which the soul can overcome the powerful forces of karma.
The path leading to eternal life is not easy to follow, for it means renunciation, and this is distasteful to most people ; but there is no other way. Our fate is entirely in our own hands. We can have divinity or embodied life ; omniscience or darkness; the rapturous joy of the gods or continual unhappiness.
At present we are slaves, servile and obedient to the tyranny of desire. If we can learn to subdue our passions and instincts, we shall one day throw off the yoke of slavery and become masters, in every sense of the term. Our desires assume two forms: attachment and aversion, or liking and disliking.
The struggle of self-mastery is easier for some persons than others. Some are born with a strong will. The reason for this is to be found in their previous life. They have already rid themselves of matter to a much greater degree than others, by the practice of self-discipline in a previous existence.
When the conquering soul finally overcomes its desiring nature and acquires omniscience, death itself is conquered. Omniscience having been attained, the final material body is sometime afterwards cast off ; and when this happens, the soul, being free from all matter, does not undergo rebirth any more. Such a soul possesses in itself perfect life, infinite joy, unlimited power and all-embracing knowledge. This is the status of Godhood and the real meaning of salvation.
All the powers and forces in the universe cannot mar or break the continuity of omniscience, not even for the fraction of a second. Every moment of existence is a living pulsation of pure energy, indescribable bliss, and boundless perception, continuing throughout all eternity.

Page #12

148
JAIN JOURNAL
It is true there are no omniscient beings living in the world to-day ; unfortunately this is not possible in the present period of time. Omniscience is not something that can be hidden. Contrary to general opinion, the present age is one of spiritual darkness instead of enlightenment.
The Great Sages, who attained to divine immortality and who lived on this earth in past ages, are not products of imagination. One has only to study their teaching for a few months to realize the infallibility of the doctrine. Such a complete, satisfactory explanation of life and the universe must have beenythe result of direct perception, which means the Sages who taught the great ideal of life, must have actually realized it in themselves.
The true teachers of religion were not mythical figures, who came down from a Supreme Being to establish a kingdom, spiritual or otherwise. They were men who discovered the truth of their own being ; men who fought and won the greatest battle of all—that of soul over matter. They emerged victorious and triumphant in the great fight with their lower natures, not with the aid of any being outside of themselves, but by the acquisition of the iron will ; the ascetic soul-force that arises in the soul itself, because of its natural, infinite power.
It is only man's wrong beliefs and false knowledge that make him feel dependent on another being for his life and happiness. Those who believe and know the soul to be eternally self-dependent, possessing in its own nature all the attributes of omniscient life, overcome all such delusions once and for all.
Those who place their faith and trust in the beneficience of a Universal God, no doubt gain a great deal of comfort and inspiration thereby, but actually they stand very little chance of ridding their souls of the real forces of darkness. Wrong belief in itself is a power of "darkness", because it causes souls to develop a sense of inferiority, contrary to their real nature.
The rule is that whatever is "sown" into the soul through desire, has to be “reaped" eventually, unless proper steps are taken to uproot the evil effects of bad “sowing". Such is the unvarying law of karma, which rules our destiny.
It is well to remember that when death comes, as it must, the soul that has been purged of much of its poisonous matter, carries its

Page #13

APRIL, 1972
149
enlightened state over into the next incarnation. The soul then comes into those conditions of life which enable it, in the course of time, to evolve out a knowledge of the truth, and the good work is carried on.
We undoubtedly reap the reward of our good actions, and the effect of meritorious living is never lost by the soul at death. On the contrary, being rid of many undesirable influences, it passes into delightful circumstances suitable to its better nature. The soul whose actions of a life-time have produced evil karmic forces, passes at death into conditions of darkness and misery.
The law of karma works for both good and evil; "as ye sow, so shall ye reap". The soul will go on living after this present life, whether one believes so or not, and because of its impure state due to the forces of karma, re-incarnation will continue.
All those fortunate souls who die possessed of true knowledge, and who have overcome their desiring nature to a great extent, will continue in a future life to make progress on thep ath of salvation, and will finally attain self-realization.
The Path :
The true path of liberation is a scientific way of life, graded and divided into various stages of advancement.
The novice has first to acquire right faith, without which it is impossible to enter on the path at all. This means all false convictions and beliefs have to be rooted out from the soul, including the belief in a supposed creating God.
Right faith being established, there are then five minor rules of conduct to be observed, namely, non-injuring, truthfulness, non-stealing, sexual purity, and restraint on uncontrolled Epicureanism and indulgence. The strict observance of these five guiding principles, together with right belief, is calculated to change the rhythm of the soul from the material to the spiritual.
Eating the right kinds of food, proper exercise and the avoidance of all kinds of intoxicants and flesh foods, are also vitally necessary for the development of our inner forces,
VY

Page #14

150
JAIN JOURNAL
When a person thus enters on the strait and narrow path in earnest, the divine nature of the soul begins to manifest itself. Then proper meditation, study and concentration are the keys which unlock the door of knowledge, the soul itself being knowledge.
The power of applied concentration produces marvellous changes in the constitution of the mind, and has corresponding effects in our conditions of life and happiness. It is not possible, however, to develop this power, so long as the soul remains agitated by its manifold cravings and longings. In order to subdue these impulses and to acquire a dispassionate tranquil mind, there are six daily activities such as study, charity, self-control, to be carried out as far as possible.
In the course of time, the knowledge-obstructing forces become considerably lessened, and the path of salvation henceforth lies in asceticism and the practice of advanced soul-culture, which includes the greater control of mind, speech and body.
In the final stages of liberation, the ascetic establishes perfect and absolute control over mind, speech and body-the three channels for the influx of matter into the soul. Omniscience is then attained ; he acquires all supernatural powers, obtains everlasting divine bliss and perceives all things in space and time.
Such is the path laid down by the Great Masters.
What does true religion teach ? Mainly this : believe in and acquire knowledge of your real divine self, and then act accordingly; teach others to do the same ; this is the essence of true religion. You are not the body; you merely possess a body. The real you is a psychic, non-material, immortal substance. The body in itself is dead and lifeless ; it is the life-substance or soul which animates the cells and gives the body life.
The soul is held a tight prisoner in the body, “wedded” to it through its complex sensory-motor nervous system. The soul fills the whole body, but its "headquarters” is situated in the region of the heart, in the spinal column ; a central organ from where the nerve filaments connect up (through the brain) with every part of the body.
This central organ controls the entire nervous system (consequently the whole body), and consists of both sensory and motor nerves, which, in various places, unite to form a network or plexus. These nervous

Page #15

APRIL, 1972
151
centres are highly sensitive, and constitute the main vital connections between the soul and the body; they are all connected with each other, and they form the central system through which the soul functions. Incidentally, the nerve centres play a very important part in spiritual training, especially as the power of inward concentration is developed.
It is the very fine, subtle matter in combination with the soul, by whose vibrations is manufactured the complex nervous system and the body. The development commences from the very first moment the soul enters the mother's womb, at the time of conception, and continues throughout birth, childhood and adolescence.
When the human being reaches complete manhood, or womanhood, and is able to exercise greater control over the fancies and temptations that beset youth, it has reached the stage when the full acceptance of the path of salvation becomes possible. The exceptions are, when the karmas of certain types of individuals, due to actions in past lives, do not permit the acquisition of right faith, and in many cases are the causes of strong aversion to truth.
There are two main divisions of the path of liberation. The first is known as the householder's (or layman's) path. This consists of graduated steps of spiritual training, at the same time taking into account the following facts—the necessity of earning a livelihood, maintaining a home and providing for one's family and dependants (if any), the duties of citizenship and the obligations of social life.
The second division of the path is for those who have progressed sufficiently during the householder's life to be able entirely to renounce all worldly concerns and devote themselves wholeheartedly to the attainment of self-realization. The degree of asceticism required in this stage, demands a very high standard of mental equanimity and an almost indomitable will; therefore, it is only open to those who have successfully mastered the preliminary training.
In Western countries, only the householder's path is practicable, but it is still possible for anyone spiritually advanced, to put into practice the rules of asceticism, when opportunities arise : so there is never any cessation to the soul's progress on the path of salvation.
Conclusion :
All wisdom and knowledge is to be found in the "heart" of manthat eternal essence of him we call the soul, otherwise known as the subconscious or the superconscious mind.

Page #16

152
JAIN JOURNAL
True religion points out the way to perfect knowledge and perfect happiness; and gives details of the lives of the Divine Masters, who once lived on this earth and departing, left behind them two thingsthe path of salvation itself, and their own glorious example for others to follow.
In the Bible there is an injunction that warns against the folly of putting one's heart into earthly treasures. The "treasures of heaven” are the joys of self-realization ; they undoubtedly survive death, and in the end are able to conquer death itself.
As the end of the present incarnation draws nearer and nearer, all desire for wealth and possessions, all worldly ambitions and the pleasures of sense-gratification are gradually given up by the aspirant to immortality, because these are the desires that keep the soul in bondage to matter. The enlightened man (or woman) makes this renunciation most cheerfully, because he feels and knows his true self to be divine. All he is giving up are the forces of darkness and delusion.
It is important to know that right faith in itself relieves the soul of much deadly matter. Should death intervene by accident or otherwise, before the normal supply of body-vitality is exhausted, the power of right faith (or insight) will lead the soul into desirable conditions in its next incarnation, and the more the lower, desiring nature has been overcome, the more enlightned and joyful will be its future state.
Pure joy is a natural function of the spirit, and arises when the forces which hinder its manifestation are removed. Spiritual joy is vastly different from the tantalizing pleasure arising from sense-gratification. Sensual pleasures, desires and passions can never be satisfied, and if persistently sought after, eventually bring nothing but pain, misery and torment to the soul.
Finally, actual experience will be found to supply all the necessary assurance of the practicability and truth of this teaching. This living faith, built on the rock of truth, can never be moved or shaken. The question of external proof does not arise with anyone who has the "witness in himself”. Abundant life, exhilarating vitality, sublime content, rich understanding, live sympathies ; all these and many more are the natural qualities of the great soul, and are to be had by treading the path of self-realization.

Page #17

The doctrines of Jainism can be broadly divided into three categories : Metaphysics, Philosophy and Ethics.
METAPHYSICS
Navatatvas (The Nine Cardinal Principles):
The principal aim of Jainism is the attainment of the freedom of the soul by its perfect evolution. But it is not possible to achieve the evolution of the soul unless one knows what the soul is, what its intrinsic attributes are, how it has been compelled to bear the agonies of existence in its wheeling from birth to birth, and by what means it can be freed from this wheeling. And in order to know all this, one has also to acquire knowledge of the constituent elements of this world, their mutual relations, the why and the how of the soul's bondage, and the means of its release. All this knowledge is classified as nine tatvas or cardinal principles in Jainism. They are : (1) Jiva or conscious soul, (2) Ajīva or unconscious non-soul, (3) Asrava or the influx of karma, (4) Bandha or bondage, (5) Punya or virtue, (6) Papa or sin, (7) Samvara or arrest of the influx of karma, (8) Nirjarā or exhaustion of karma, and (9) Mokşa or liberation. The two principles of jiva and ajiva comprise all the objects of the world. The other seven principles explain how the jiva or conscious soul is bound by ajiva or unconscious matter, what is the nature of the bonds, and by what means they can be got rid of.
Jiva (Soul) :
The first principle is jiva. The essential attribute of the jiva is consciousness, in other words, that which possesses consciousness is jiva. Infinite knowledge, vision, power, bliss. etc., are also the attributes of jiva. Each jiva has an independent existence, and the number of the jivas is infinite. The jīvas are of two kinds : sansāri or mundane and mukta or liberated. Those that have attained to nirvāņa by exhausting all karmas are called mukta (free) or siddha (perfect). They are also called liberated souls. They are endowed with infinite knowledge, infinite vision, infinite power, and infinite bliss; and they never come back to this mortal world. The supreme and ultimate goal of every terrestial being is to attain liberation. The jiva is also termed jivāstikāya.
Sansāri jivas are those that have been passing through birth and death and have not yet attained liberation. They are born as devas (gods), mānavas (men), nārakas (beings of hell) and tiryakas (birds, beasts, insects, vegetation, etc.) and when the sands of their lives run out, they

Page #18

156
die and are born again. So long as they do not attain salvation, they have to bear the agonies of birth, decay and death. The sansari or mundane jivas have been divided into five categories according to the number of the senses they possess, such as ekendriyas, dvīndriyas, trīndriyas, caturindriyas and pañcendriyas.
JAIN JOURNAL
Creatures that have only one sense, the sense of touch, and no other are called ekendriyas. They are also called sthāvaras, because they are devoid of the power of locomotion. The sthavara jīvas are again divided into five classes. (1) Pṛthvīkāyas, i.e., clay, stone, metal, etc., (2) Apkäyas, i.e., water, dew, snow, etc., (3) Agnikäyas, i.e., fire, burning coal, etc., (4) Vayukāyas, i.e., air, storm, whirlwind, etc., and (5) Vanaspatikāyas, i.e., trees, creepers, herbs etc. Earth, stones, etc., all kinds of water, all kinds of fire, all kinds of air, and all kinds of trees, etc. in their natural states, are jivas embodied in earth, water, fire, air and vegetation.
The other four kinds of jivas from dvīndriyas to pañcendriyas are called trasa, because they are endowed with the power of locomotion. The dvindriya jivas, such as worms, leeches, etc, have two senses, the sense of touch and the sense of taste. The trindriya jivas, such as ants, lice, etc, have the sense of smell along with the above-mentioned two senses. Caturindriya jivas, such as bees, drones, etc. have the sense of sight along with the above-mentioned three. Pañcendriya jivas, such as men, beasts, birds, gods and the beings of hell, have the sense of hearing in addition to the other four. According to the Jaina scriptures, there are seven hells. Those who commit gross sins enter into hell after their death and have to undergo unimaginable sufferings. There are many kinds of gods living in different heavens or svargas. Some of them possess more strength, happiness, influence and lustre than the others, particularly the gods of the anuttara vimāna excel all others in these attributes. The gods live so long that they are usually considered as immortal, though in point of fact, no gods are really immortal. The iivas comprising the first four categories have no mind, so they are called amanaska. Gods, beings of hell, men, beasts, birds, etc. possess the mind and are, therefore, called samanaska jivas, though their mental development is not of the same order.
Ajiva (Non-soul):
The second principle is ajiva. The ajiva possesses characteristics which are contrary to those of the jivas, that is to say, it is devoid of

Page #19

APRIL, 1972
consciousness. Ajiva is of five kinds : (1) Dharmāstikāya, (2) Adharmastikāya, (3) Ākāśāstikāya, (4) Pudgalāstikāya and (5) Kāla. All these five substances are eternal.
157
Dharmastikāya is a substance which contributes to the movements of the jivas and pudgalas (matter). But for it, neither the jivas nor the material objects could have been mobile. That is why it is known as the indispensable aid to motion or mobility. It is formless, unconscious and pervasive of the entire loka or universe.
Adharmastikāya is a substance which helps the jivas and matter to stop their motion, if they are so inclined. That is why it is known as an aid to stability or stoppage of motion. It is also formless, unconscious and pervasive of the whole loka.
Akāśāstikāya furnishes subsisting space to jivas, pudgalas (matter) and all things. It pervades all loka and aloka, and is formless and unconscious.
All objects, big and small, made of atoms are called pudgalāstikāya. The smallest, indivisible particle of matter is called an atom. The whole material world is made up of atoms and objects composed of atoms. The material objects are infinite in number. Form, taste, smell, touch and sound are the characteristics of the material substance. Though the atoms are not apprehended by our senses, yet they too have form, taste, smell and touch.
The word astikāya used in connection with jivāstikāya, dharmästikāya, adharmastikāya, ākāśāstikāya and pudgalastikāya has a special sigficance. The word asti means that which always exists and kaya means a substance having many pradeśas, i.e., spatial points. A pradesa is the minutest, indivisible section of a thing. A combination or aggregate of such indivisible sections forms kāya. Astikāya means a substance which always exists and have many indivisible pradeśas or sections. Because the jivas, dharma, adharma, ākāśa and pudgala are made of the combinations of the smallest indivisible pradeśas and are permanent substances, so each of them is called an astikāya.
Kāla or time is an imaginary thing-it has no real existence. It is deduced from the movements of the sun, moon, stars, etc. The smallest indivisible fraction of the present time is called samaya. In Jaina metaphysics the word samaya has this special connotation. The past is dead and gone, the future does not yet exist, that is why it is the present

Page #20

4
-
1
SAT
Twentyfour Tirthankaras
Used on piece-goods by Kordds & Co., Calcutta
Courtesy : B. L. NAHATA

Page #21

158
time alone that is called samaya. Kala is limited to only one samaya, that is to say it has only one pradeśa (fraction) and not a combination or pradeśas, and is not therefore, included in the astikāyas. The imaginary combinations of such infinitesimal samayas are variously classified as āvalikā, moment, day, night, fortnight, month, year, etc. According to another view, it is held that kala or time too, has a real existence, it is not something imaginary. It has the size of an atom, and is called kālāņu. Because each kālāņu exists separately in a distinct pradesa or a point of space (ākāśa) it is not called astikāya. It is instrumental in the metamorphoses of jiva and pudgala (matter). It too is formless and unconscious.
JAIN JOURNAL
So far we have described the jiva and the ajiva, the two essential principles which constitute the whole universe. What follows will give an idea of how the jiva gets enmeshed in karma and wanders in the worlds, and how it can be liberated. It will, thus, be an exposition of the remaining seven principles.
Asrava (Influx of Karma):
The third principle is asrava. The causes which lead to the influx of good and evil karma for the bondage of the soul are called asrava. To put it briefly, asrava is an attraction in the jiva towards sense-objects. Mithyatva (perverted belief or ignorance), avirati (want of self-restraint), pramāda (inadvertance), kaşayas (passions like anger, vanity, deceitfulness and avarice) and yoga (activities of mind, speech and body)—these are the five causes of the influx of good and evil karmas, and so they are known as asrava. Himsā or violence, asateya or untruth, caurya or stealing, maithuna or sex indulgence and parigraha or attachment to sense-objects, etc. also cause the bondage of the soul by karma and, therefore, they too are asrava.
Bandha (Bondage):
The fourth principle is bandha. It is the envelopment of the soul by the skandhas or aggregates composed of innumerable particles of certain categories of karma. There is a particular type of particles which being attracted by the ignorance of the jiva, the action of its mind, speech and body, and its reactions of attraction and repulsion, attach themselves to the soul and shroud it. These particles are called particles of karma vargaṇā. In its essential nature the soul being pure, transperent conscious and incorporeal, logically it cannot be bound by corporeal and unconscious particles, but from time immemorial it has undergone

Page #22

APRIL, 1972
this bondage by forms of karmic matter. It is a bondage mysterious and timeless. This karmic envelope is called in Jaina parlance kārmaṇaśarira. In some Indian philosophies it is called linga-sarira. The jiva is encased in the kärmaṇa-sarira from times immemorial, and in consequence, subject to the impulses and reactions, caused by karma. Attracted by these impulses and reactions new karmic atoms of matter are constantly flowing in and attaching themselves to the karmic envelope of the jiva, and it is as a result of this instreaming and accumulating karma that the jiva has to whirl on the wheel of sansara and pass through the alternating experiences of pleasure and pain.
159
Karmic matter attaching itself to the soul assumes four forms : (1) Prakṛti-bandha, (2) Sthiti-bandha, (3) Anubhava-bandha, and (4) Pradesa-bandha. When karmic matter attaches itself to the soul, its development is determined by the then action of the jiva's mind, speech and body, that is to say, by the goodness or badness, intensity or dullness of that action and it assumes a nature having the capacity to cover up certain specific attributes of the soul. This form of bondage is called prakṛti-bandha. It develops infinite variants in itself according to the differing energies of the mind, speech and body of the jiva. But roughly, they can be subsumed under eight heads: (1) Jñānā varaṇiya, (2) Darśanavaraṇiya, (3) Vedaniya, (4) Mohaniya, (5) Ayu, (6) Nāma, (7) Gotra, and (8) Antarāya.
Jñanavaraṇīya karma covers up the soul's power of knowledge. Darśanavaraniya clouds its power of perception. Vedaniya karma overcasts its intrinsic, infinite and unhorizoned bliss and makes the jiva feel the evanescent pleasures and pains of the world. That which generates delusion in the jiva in regard to its own nature and makes it identify itself with or be attached to non-self, is called mohaniya karma. The karma which engulfs the soul's eternal poise in its unconditioned selfbeing and compels the jiva to asume a body for a fixed period of time in each successive birth, is called the ayu karma. That which eclipses the soul's formlessness and constrains it to put on forms, and under whose influence the jiva comes to have perfect or deformed limbs, fame or obloquy, and various other representations of itself, is called nāma karma. That which covers up the soul's superiority to the worldly distinctions of high and low, and forces it to be born in superior or inferior state of human society, is called gotra karma. And that which envelops the soul's inherent force and obstructs the jiva's free enjoyment of the riches of the world or its generosity in charity, is called antarāya karma. There are many subdivisions of these eight principal categories of prakṛti-bandha.

Page #23

160
The karmic matter which adheres to the soul for a long or short space of time according to the intensity or dullness of the jiva's passions like rāga (attraction) or dveşa (repulsion), etc., is called sthiti-bandha.
JAIN JOURNAL
What fruits, good or bad, acute or dull, the karmic matter will produce is determined at the time of bandha by the varying degrees of the reactions of the passions (raga, dveşa, etc.) of the jiva. The bandha that is pregnant with the power of producing such fruits is called anubhavabandha or rasa-bandha.
The number of the karmic particles that are drawn towards the jiva for attaching themselves to it is determined by the nature of the jiva's mind, speech and body, that is to say, if the action is on a large scale or intense, the number of the karmic particles is large, if it is on a small scale or lacking in intensity, the number is small. This particular kind of bandha of a varying magnitude is called pradesa-bandha.
Punya (Virtue):
The fifth principle is punya. The karmic vandha which is brought about by the good or righteous action of the jiva's mind, speech and body, and is pregnant with the potentiality of bearing happy fruits, is called punya. Auspicious karma attaches itself to the jiva as a result of the later's works of charity, such as gift of food, drinking water, accomodation, bedding, clothes, etc. to the monks, its pious resolutions, and homage to the Tirthankaras, the religious gurus, etc. As fruits of one's righteous karma, one comes to possess physical and mental happiness, health and beauty of the body, property, fame, etc.
Pāpa (Sin):
The sixth principal is pāpa, which is the very contrary of punya or virtue. Sin is the bondage of karma which is brought about by the evil actions and reactions of the mind, speech and body of the jiva, and contains in itself the power to produce evil and unhappy results. Violence, telling of lies, stealing, sexual incontinence, attachment to the objects of enjoyment, anger, self-conceit, deceitfulness, avarice, etc., are the evil propensities which entail the jiva's bondage to the karma of sin; and the painful consequence of this karmic bondage is suffering from various physical ailments, deformed and ugly body, birth in the animal life, as beast, bird, insect, etc., birth in hell or poverty and privation. The soul, shrouded in sinful karma, cannot progress in self evolution, but gets more and more entangled in karmic matter and drifts like a waif in

Page #24

APRIL, 1972
161
endless flux of time. These two principles of virtue and sin are, in a sense two different aspects of the bandha principle. Some exponents to Jaina philosophy, therefore, include them in the bandha principle, thus reckoning the principles as seven and not nine.
Samvara (Arrest of the Influx of Karma) ;
The seventh principle is samvara. The methods by which the asrava or influx of karma is arrested are called samvara. It is a principle contrary to āsrava. It is achieved by an undeviating practice of the discipline of mind, speech and body, religious meditation, suppression of desire, forgivenness, tenderness, purity of thought, truthfulness, austerities, renunciation, detachment, chastity, abstension from evil action and avarice ; and by thinking that the world is impermanent and the body full of filth, and that one has to suffer alone the sweet or bitter fruits of one's own karma.
Nirjarā (Elimination of Karma):
The eighth principle is nirjarā. It means the sloughing off or elimination of the coating of karma-pudgala from the soul. The karma which has once attached itself to the soul becomes active when it is time for it to bear fruit, and is subsequently exhausted; but if one fails to throw it out just before it starts bearing fruit, it becomes difficult to attain liberation, for, new karma flows in by the actions and reactions of the old karma while it begins bearing fruit. Therefore, it is necessary for those who aspire for liberation to exhaust all karma by the prescribed means of meditation, contemplation, etc. This process of exhaustion or elimination of karma is called nirjarā. Nirjarā is effected by rigourous austerities, which are of two kinds : external and internal. Fasting, abstemiousness, suppression of desire, renunciation of the rasa or pleasure, physical mortification and sitting, tucked up, in a solitary place these are the six kinds of external austerities. Penance, humility, nursing the sick and ailing monks, study of the scriptures, giving up of all attachments to the body, and contemplationthese are the six kinds of internal austerities.
Mokșa (Liberation) :
The ninth or final principle is mokşa. The soul's recovery of its own eternal self by the complete exhaustion or elimination of all karma is mokşa or mukti. When the soul breaks out of the karmic envelope, it realises its innate attributes of infinite knowledge, infinite

Page #25

162
perception, infinite power, infinite bliss, and infinite light, and ascending the crest of the loka, remains there immersed in the termless beatitude of its unconditioned existence-it never return again into the wheel of material existence made up of birth, decay and death. Ascent is the natural movement of the soul. Stripped of the covering karma, the pure soul wings straight upwards and settles upon the highest region of the loka, that is to say upon the farthest frontiers of dharmastikāya and adharmastikāya. This state of the soul is the liberated or perfected state-this is nirvāṇa. As a lamp lit in a house irradiates the whole house with its light, and if other lamps are lit, their lights too mingle with each other and remain there, so the liberated souls, which are each an effulgence, mingle with each other and remain on the crest of the loka for ever. For them there is no return, to the agony of mortal existence.
Triratna (Three Gems):
We have dwelt in brief upon the nine essential principles including the last principle of liberation. Now, we will give an idea as to how liberation is attained. A simultaneous practice of samyak darśana or right faith, samyak jñāna or right knowledge and samyak cāritra or right character and conduct leads to liberation. These are three gems of Jainism.
Samyak Darsana (Right Faith):
Samyak darśana is also called samyaktva. It is a faith in the nine essential principles (navatatvas) and an attitude of unbiased approach to the real nature of things. It can also be called viveka drşți or discriminating perception. Deluded by ignorance, the jiva ordinarily takes falsehood for truth and truth for falsehood. The faith-directed attitude of consciousness that can perceive truth as truth and falsehood as falsehood is samyak darśana or samyaktva. The spiritual life of the jiva begins only when samyaktva emerges out of the darkness of its ignorance. The jiva then, develops an aspiration to know the truth in its essential principles, to renounce what is unwholesome and impure, and to accept all that is high and noble and conducive to its spiritual progress.
Samyak Jñana (Right Knowledge) :
There is some form of knowledge in every jīva, but so long as samyak darsana has not evolved in it, that knowledge can only be a wrong or false knowledge, which is only a form of ignorance. It is only after the

JAIN JOURNAL

Page #26

APRIL, 1972
163
emergence of the samyak darśana that knowledge can become true knowledge ; for in the absence of samyak darśana, the jīva lacks the power of knowing the real nature of things, and hence what knowledge it has already acquired cannot be called true knowledge. It is only after samyak darśana has evolved that the knowledge of the jīva can be called samyak jñāna or right knowledge.
Knowledge is of five kinds ; (1) Mati-jñāna, (2) Sruta-jñāna, (3) Avadhi-jñāna, (4) Manahparyāya-jñāna and (5) Kevala-jñāna. The knowledge which is acquired by means of the sense organs and the power of the mind is called mati-jñāna. That, which is acquired by the study of words and their meanings is called śruta-jñāna. Like matijñāna, śruta-jñāna is also acquired by means of the senses and the mental powers; and the śruta-jñāna of a thing cannot be had unless there has already been mati-jñāna of it. But the scope and nature of śrutajñāna is wider and more distinct than those of mati-jñāna, for, śrutajñāna comprehends a study of words and their meanings. The knowledge which is acquired by study of books and scriptures and by listening to men of wisdom, is also called śruta-jñāna. The knowledge by which one can know all embodied objects within certain limits of space, and without the help of the mind and the senses, is called avadhi-jñāna. It is a kind of spiritual knowledge. When this knowledge develops, one can see, even with one's eyes closed, all things which are not form-less, and within certain boundaries of space. The knowledge by which, even without the help of the mind and the senses, one can know the psychological movements of the creatures within certain fixed limits, is called manahparyāya-jñāna. This too is a kind of spiritual knowledge. The knowledge by which, without any aid whatever of the mind and the senses, one can know all things contained in the loka and the aloka, all things past, present and future, possessing form and without form, and in all their attributes and categories, is called kevala-jñāna. This is spiritual knowledge par excellence. When the four kinds of karmajñānāvaraṇīya, darśanāvaraṇīya, mohanīya and antarāya—are completely exhausted, the intrinsic knowledge of the soul, the kevala-jñāna, reveals itself. This state of knowledge of the soul is called the jīvanmukta state. Once this state is realised, the jīva is sure to attain mukti or nirvāņa (liberation) when the remaining span of its life comes to an end. The Tīrthankaras were, in this sense jīvanmuktas, and endowed with kevala-jñāna—all knowing and all-seeing.
Samyak Cāritra (Right Character and Conduct) :
· Self-discipline, renunciation, repression of the senses and unblemished conduct are called caritra. The self-discipline, renunciation,

Page #27

164
JAIN JOURNAL
etc., practised after the development of samyak darśana and samyak jñāna is called samyak-cāritra. The five major vratas practised by the monks, the tenfold religious observance of the yatis, the seventeen forms of self-discipline, the twelve vratas enjoined upon the lay disciples--all these are included in samyak cāritra. Caritra is of two kinds : one is based upon a total and absolute, and the other on a partial renunciation. A total and unreserved renunciation is prescribed for the monks and a partial renunciation for the householders.
The seventeen constituents of samyak-cāritra are : renunciation of each of the five kinds of asrava—violence, untruth, stealing, sexual indulgence and craving for the possession of things; detachment from each of the five sense objects--sound, touch, form, taste and smell ; quelling of each of the four principal passions—anger, self-conceit. deceitfulness and avarice ; and the threefold discipline of subduing the evil propensities of mind, speech and body. A perfect and synthetic practice of samyak darśana, samyak jñāna and samyak cāritra inevitably leads to liberation.
Samyak darsana, samyak jñāna and samyak cāritra are inter-related, and depend upon each other for their perfection ; that is to say, if the faith (darśana) is not purified, there is no possibility of the development of pure knowledge ; and if the faith and knowledge have not become pure, conduct cannot be pure and flawless. Any one or even any two of these three gems cannot lead to liberation. Even perfectly pure faith and knowledge, unaccompanied by pure conduct, fail to lead to liberation. It is, therefore, by a simultaneous perfection of right faith, right knowledge and right conduct that one can attain liberation, and not otherwise. It is extremely difficult to realise anything like perfection in conduct and character on account of the perpetual seduction of the sense-objects ; that is why, the religious books of the Jainas lay so much stress on the purity of conduct. Unless one practises to perfection the five major vows or mahāvratas-non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, chastity and non-possession-one can never attain to a perfect purity of character and conduct. The Jaina ideal of monkhood is an unimpeachable perfection in living, that is to say, in character and conduct ; and it is the non-violence that is the bed-rock of perfect conduct.
Creation–Eternal and Infinite :
Jainism regards the world as beginningless and eternal. It cannot conceive of a time when the world first sprang out of a Supreme Being,

Page #28

APRIL, 1972
165
and when it will return to it. According to it, everything in the world is undergoing constant change, but nothing ever perishes and disappears out of existence. All objects in the world are created and destroyed as a result of the modifications of the two cardinal principles of jīva and ajīva (conscious soul and unconscious matter), but the essential substance remains as it is-it never vanishes out of existence.
The Birth and Wanderings of the Jiva :
All embodied beings are compounded of the conscious soul and unconscious matter, and so long as a total separation does not take place between the two, the beings have to wander in the worlds. The principle theme of Jainism is to propound the means by which this rupture can be effected, and the conscious soul can be liberated from the thraldom of matter. Ahimsā (non-violence), sanyama (self-control) and tapasyā (austerities) are the means by which every human being can advance towards his spiritual freedom.
The Supreme Fulfilment of Man :
As, in Jainism, there is no conception of a Supreme Being, creator of the universe, there is no room in it for any theory of avatāra-hood or God-appointed prophet-hood. The great men who have attained spiritual freedom were nothing but men like us. They had developed their souls by a steady practice of self-discipline through many lives ; and any man, if he has the will, can do like-wise. Human birth is the only condition of perfect spiritual development ; even the gods are incapable of this perfection.
PHILOSOPHY
The Jaina philosophy is commonly known as syadvāda. Syādvāda or anekāntavāda views things from many angles and reveals their true nature by embracing their different aspects and attributes. Syāt in the word syādvāda means 'may be', or it may be taken to mean 'somehow or 'relatively to'. The real sense of the compound word, syādvāda or anekantavāda can, therefore, be said to be objective realism-viewing things under their diverse aspects by a multiple or many-sided vision. Every real object or dravya is subject to the triple operation of birth, persistence and dissolution. This triple operation goes on at all times in an uninterrupted simultaneity in every object. The part of a thing which is stable or persistent is its very substance, and the part which is

Page #29

166
mobile and changing is its modification. A thing in the form of a substance, is permanent, but as a modification of that substance, it is impermanent. Substance and its modifications are neither completely different nor completely identical which implies that every object possesses many attributes. Syadvada is nothing but admitting all these contrary aspects and attributes of objects from different points of view. By the absolute or categorical predication of a particular attribute one cannot arrive at the truth of a thing, for all existent things are complex and composite in their qualities. Syadvāda or anekāntavāda is that method of dialectic which reveals all the aspects of a thing by admitting from diverse standpoints its conflicting or self-contradictory attributes.
JAIN JOURNAL
By means of syādvāda one can acquire the knowledge of the true nature of every object viewed in different perspectives. The same man may variously be known as a father, a son, an uncle, a nephew, etc. In relation to his son he is father, but in relation to his own father, he is a son; in relation to his nephew he is an uncle, but in relation to his uncle, he is a nephew. He is immortal in relation to his soul, mortal in relation to his body. An earthen pot is at once permanent and transitory. The object called pot is transitory, but the substance of which it is made is eternal, for the particles composing clay or earth will always endure in some form or other-they can never perish. A gold neclace is transitory, but the metallic substance called gold is permanent, for the neclace can be broken and moulded into another form, and yet its substance called gold will abide unaltered in its essence. Thus all objects of the world come into existence and perish, but in their essential substance they remain unchanged: they are, therefore, at once permanent and impermanent. The essential substance is stable and permanent, but its modifications are impermanent-they are subject to constant mutation.
An absolute or exclusive predication of a particular quality or aspect of a thing cannot bring out the truth of its composite nature. A certain person is only father and not a son-such an exclusive predication cannot be true, for besides fatherhood the person possesses other attributes also, such as sonhood, etc. If a blind man, touching only a leg of an elephant, tries to prove that the elephant has the form of a pillar, he cannot be right. Therefore, it can be safely asserted that the real nature of a thing can be revealed only by anekantavāda or manysided and comprehensive predication, and not by ekantavāda or an exclusive and unilateral predication.
The septuple formation of syādvada is called saptabhangi. Each form is headed by the word, syat. If an attribute of an object has to be

Page #30

APRIL, 1972
167
predicated, it must be done in such a way as not to nullify the possibility of affirming a contrary attribute. If the imperishability of a thing is to be predicated, it must be formulated in such a way that it does not do away with the possibility of predicating the contrary attributes or perishability or transcience. It is for this reason that the word syāt (somehow or may be) has to be used in the predication of every object. For example, “may be the pot is imperishable”--this undogmatic predication leaves room for a contrary predication of the perishability of the pot.
The septuple formation is as follows :
(1) syāt asti (may be it is)
2) syāt nāsti (may be it is not) (3) syāt asti nāsti (may be it is and is not) (4) syāt avaktavya (may be it is unpredictable) (5) syāt asti avaktavya (may be it is and is unpredictable) (6) syāt nāsti avaktavya (may be it is not and is unpredictable) . (7) syāt asti nästi avaktavya (may be it is, is not, and is unpredictable)
This is saptabhangi.
ETHICS
Sādhus (Monks) and sādhvīs (Nuns) :
It has been said that, while preaching Jainism, the Tirthankaras founded a four-fold community of monks (sādhus), nuns (sādhvīs), lay brothers (frāvakas) and lay sisters (frāvikās). In this fourfold community the sādhus or monks are the highest in rank. Those who renounce the world and lead the life of contemplative mendicancy are called sādhus, and such females are sādhvīs. The sādhus and sādhvīs or monks and nuns observe fully, in thought, word and deed, and all through their lives, the five major vows or mahāvratas : (1) Ahimsā (non-violence), (2) Satya (truthfulness), (3) Acaurya (non-stealing), (4) Brahmacarya (chastity), and (5) Aparigraha (freedom from all craving for worldly possessions).
The sādhus maintain an attitude of compassion and equality towards all creatures. Himsā or violence means killing a creature, torturing it, or forcing it to do something against its will, etc. To desist from doing violence is Ahimsā or non-violence.

Page #31

JAIN JOURNAL
The sādhus themselves do not commit any violence by thought, word or deed nor do make others commit it, nor do they approve of any violence committed by others. This is the first mahāvrata or great vow. This is called ahimsā or prāņātipāta-viramaņa-vrata.
The second major vow is a total abstention from falsehood. It is called truthfulness or mrşāvāda-viramana-vrata. The sādhus 'always speak the truth. They have to refrain from speaking the truth which is likely to lead to some kind of himsā or violence. In such a case they had better hold their peace. If a man is subject to anger, greed, fear or the habit of poking fun or cracking jokes, there is every chance of his having to tell a lie ; that is why it is enjoined upon the sādhus to renounce anger, greed, etc. They do not indulge in falsehood or hypocrisy either in thought, word or deed, nor do they make others indulge in it, nor approve of others' indulging in it.
The third major vow is non-stealing. It is also called adattādāna-viramana-vrata. The sadhus do not commit any form of stealing. They do not take anything not given to them by it They do not make others take such a thing, nor do they approve of others' taking it. While taking alms, they are particular about the quantity they accept, so that it may not be more than what is just required. Acceptance of more than the required amount renders them guilty of stealing.
The fourth major vow is brahamacarya or chastity. It is called maithuna-viramana-vrata. The sādhus give up all forms of sexual enjoyment in thought, word and deed. They do not themselves indulge in sexual pleasure, do not make others indulge in them nor do they approve of others indulging in them. They strictly eschew all thought of the sexual pleasures that may have had as householders. They do not sit or lie down on a seat or bed used by a woman. They do not eat palatable food or any food that is likely to excite carnal desires. These are some of the severe rules the sādhus or monks follow in their practice of the fourth great vow.
The fifth major vow is non-possession or aparigraha. It is called parigraha-viramaņa-vrata. The sādhus renounce all possessions, such as all kinds of wealth, grains, land and other immovable properties, house, etc. They do not themselves possess these things, do not ask others to possess them, nor do they approve others possessing them. They practice the fifth great vow by giving up all attachment in thought, word and deed to all objects of sound, sight, smell, taste and touch.

Page #32

APRIL, 1972
169
The Jaina sādhus practise also ten virtues of yatis, which are called yatidharma or the virtues of a self-controlled sādhu : (1) Kşamā (forgiveness), (2) Mārdava (humility), (3) Ārjava (candour), (4) Nirlobhatā (non-covetousness), (5) Akiñcanatā (poverty), (5) Satya (truthfulness), (7) Sanyama (restraint), (8) Tapasyā (austerities), (9) Sauca (inner and outer purity, and (10) Brahmacarya (chastity).
They have to subdue the wild impulses of their minds, speech, and bodies. They have to be always alert and vigilant in the observance of three guptis or rules of self-discipline. The first is manogupti, which means inhibition or elimination of evil and impure thoughts, and the initiation of a train of good thoughts. The seccond, vacanagupti, means a restraint over one's speech, or, if necessary, the observance of total silence. The third, kāyagupti, is a regulation of all the movements of one's body. Again, the sādhus have to observe five samitis : Tryyā samiti, bhāṣā samiti, eșanā samiti, ādāna-niksepa samiti, and utsarga samiti. They have to walk with care, so that they may not tread upon any creature this is īryyā samiti. To be restrainted in speech and speak only what is true and beneficial is bhāṣā samiti. To procure with care and caution only the food which is pure, harmless and necessary for the maintenance of the body, is eşnā samiti. To take and keep things with care is ādānaniksepa samiti. And to be careful in the disposal of excrements, urine, cough, rags, etc. so that they may not fall upon or injure any sentient being is utsarga samiti.
They observe equality towards all, friends and foes alike. They do not take any food after nightfall, do not use any kind of conveyance, live by begging, do not accept money, and do not collect and hoard anything for themselves. These are some of the hard rules of selfcontrol they strive to practise.
To inhibit the train of evil thoughts and engage the mind in good thought the sādhus have to practise twelve kinds of meditation :
(1) Life, youth, wealth and property, everything is impermanent,
therefore, one should not be attached to them. This thoughtcurrent is called anitya bhāvanā or meditation on the impermanence of all worldly things.
(2) As none can save a deer from the jaws of a lion, so none can
save a man from the clutches of disease and calamity. This kind of thought is called ašarana bhāvanā or meditation of the forlorn helplessness of man.

Page #33

170
JAIN JOURNAL
(3) In this world there is none who is really my kindred, friend or
enemy. In the unnumbered succession of my lives, I may have had various relations with every creature. This is the strange, peculiar nature of the world. This kind of thought is called sarsāra bhāvanā or meditation on the transitoriness of human relations.
(4) Alone was I born and alone must I die. It is I alone and none
else who have to suffer the consequences of my deeds. This kind of reflection is called ekatva bhāvanā or meditation on the solitariness of individual existence.
(5) The body and the soul are distinct and separate from each
other. The body is unconscious and the soul conscious. This is pșthakatva bhāvanā or meditation on the separateness of the soul from the body.
(6) The body is made up of impure substances such as blood,
flesh, etc., and full of faeces, urine, etc. One should never be attached to such a body. This is asuci bhāvanā or meditation on the intrinsic impurity of the body.
(7) Attached to the senses, if I remain engrossed in the enjoyment
of wordly objects it will entail my bondage to karma and produce harmful consequences. This is āsrava bhāvanā or meditation of the influx of karma into the soul.
(8) To resort to good thoughts in order to rid oneself of evil pro
pensities is samvara bhāvanā or meditation on the cessation of the influx of karma.
(9) To reflect upon the various evil consequences of karma and
think of exhausting all accumulated karma by contemplation and austerities is called nirjarā bhāvanā or meditation on the elimination of all karma.
(10) To reflect upon the real nature of the universe and its fleeting
appearances is called loka bhāvanā or meditation on the impermanence of the world.
(11) In this phenomenal world attainment of right faith and an
immaculate character is a rare achievement. This kind of thought is called bodhidurlabha bhāvanā or meditation on the difficult nature of the knowledge and perfection to be attained.

Page #34

APRIL, 1972
(12) Religion is the only refuge in this of birth, decrepitude and death. meditation on the sustaining and
171
world for the triple agony This is dharma bhāvanā or saving power of religion.
By these meditations the monks have to turn their minds from evil thoughts. The nuns or sadhvis also observe the same strict vows and rules of conduct as the monks. It is these monks and nuns, who practise self-control and have given up all desires and earthly possessions, deserve to be ranked as gurus or spiritual teachers.
Sravakas (Lay Brothers) and Srāvikās Lay (Sisters):
Male householders following Jainism are called śrävakas and female householders śrāvikās. They do not adopt the life of a recluse by renouncing the world, but live in it, earning their livelihood by honest means and performing the householders' religious duties. They are expected to possess seriousness, a limpid serenity of nature, modesty, straightforwardness, kindness, impartiality, an admiring openness to the good qualities of others, humility, gratitude, benevolence, etc. There are twelve vratas or vows prescribed for them.
(1) Sthula-prāṇātipāta-viramana-vrata, is not to kill, injure or give trouble deliberately to any innocent trasa creature.
(2) Sthula-mṛṣāvāda-viramaṇa-vrata is not to speak such lies as may cause harm to others. This vow also demands that one must abstain from the gross forms of lying like denying a pledge or a trust, bearing false witness in a law court, representing somebody's property as one's own or as belonging to a third person, hiding other's defects and drawbacks, singing false praises of a bride or a bridegroom, etc.
(3) Sthula-adattādāna-viramaṇa-vrata is abstention from stealing. The theft of somebody's things or the evasion of due taxes, or such stealing as entails censure at the hands of one's society or punishment by the ruling power, must be eschewed.

(4) Sthula-maithuna-viramaṇa-vrata is to give up all kinds of sexual intercourse except with ones duly married wife. Even with one's own wife excessive sexual indulgence of all kinds need be avoided.

Page #35

172
(5) Parigraha-parimāṇa-vrata is to impose certain limits upon the possession of wealth, grains, animals and other forms of property, and restrict one's enjoyment of them within those limits.
JAIN JOUKNAL
(6) Dik-parimāṇa-vrata is to keep within certain fixed limits one's journeys in different directions for trade and other purposes.
(7) Bhogapabhoga-parimāṇa-vrata is to restrict within certain bounds the enjoyment of the necessary material objects of daily use, such as food, clothes, house, etc. The objects that can be enjoyed once only are called bhogya, such as food, and those that are of constant or frequent use are called upabhogya, such as clothes, house, furniture, etc.
(8) Anarthadanda-viramaṇa-vrata-The sins that are committed thoughtlessly without any reference to one's personal need or the benefit of one's family are called anarthadaṇḍa. Abstention from such sins is called anarthadaṇḍa-viramaṇa-vrata. It is undertaken as a safeguard against doing many unnecessary wrong things, such as giving of arms, poison, etc. to others, instigating birds and beasts to fight among themselves, counselling others to do vicious acts, engaging in evil thoughts, or immoral activities, etc.
(9) Sāmāyika-vrata-By this vow the layman undertakes to sit quitely for 48 minutes at one place and give up all sinful activities and calmly meditate on the soul or chant hymns, quelling all evil propensities of one's mind, speech and body, and observing equality towards friends, foes and all creatures.
(10) Deśāvakāsika-vrata―This vow requires one to restrict further the scope allowed by the previous dik-parimāṇa-vrata, and the restriction varies according to the daily needs of one's life.
(11) Pauṣadha-vrata-According to this vrata the śrāvaka has to live the life somewhat like that of an ascetic for a whole day or for a whole day and night or for whole night only by fasting, giving up all worldly pre-occupations and engaging in religious contemplation. Because the vrata promotes and nourishes one's religious life, it is called pauşadha or nourishing.
(12) Atithi-sanvibhāga-vrata—It means giving food, clothes, etc. to sadhus and sadhvis.

Page #36

APRIL, 1972
Of these twelve vratas, the first five are called aṇuvratas or minor vows, because they are less difficult and rigorous than the mahāvratas or major vows of the monks; the next three (from the sixth to the eighth) are called guṇavratas, as they foster the growth of the qualities engendered by the first five aṇuvratas, and the last four vratas (from the ninth to the twelfth) are called sikşa-vratas, as they constitute the preliminary training for the adoption of the ascetic life of the monks. The householders have to lead the religious life and advance towards perfection by the practice of these twelve vratas.
Ahimsa (Non-violence)
173
Ahimsa or non-violence can be said to be the fulcrum of the whole institution of Jaina monkhood. But as it is not possible to practise non-violence perfectly without a simultaneous practice of truthfulness, non-stealing, chastity and non-possession, the above mentioned five major vratas have been enjoined upon the monks. Again, without a discipline of the mind and the senses, non-violence cannot be practised fully, and without austerities, discipline is out of the question. It is for these reasons that non-violence, self-discipline and austerities taken together, have been called dharma in the Jaina scriptures. The sadhus (monks) have to be vigilant at every moment and in every movement of their lives, so that they may not be guilty of any violence whatsoever, may not injure or kill even a very small sentient being. It is impossible to desist from this kind of violence except by a perfect practice of the five major vows. The monks endure with calm, courage and equanimity all cruel persecution or oppression, and even deadly suffering they do not cherish the slight feeling of hatred or anger against their persecutors. Instances like the one in which a Jaina sadhu endured inhuman torture and laid down his life for saving the life of a little bird, are not rare.
We have dwelt above on the vratas or religious vows of the śravakas or Jaina householders. The rules regulating their lives have been so framed as to enable them to lead an honest and pious existence by a gradual control of their cravings and desires. They have been so framed that in earning their livelihood and saving their wealth and property and even when called upon to bear arms for the protection of their person, their families and their country from the oppresive hands of their enemies, the śrāvakas may be able to observe self-restraint, and may not cause harm to themselves, their societies, their country and the larger interests of human society by their wild and unrestrained behaviour but rather advance, step by step, towards the ideal of monkhood, renouncing all

Page #37

174
JAIN JOURNAL
craving for possession by the practice of a progressive self-discipline. If we carefully study the rules and vows which a householder is expected to observe, we shall easily see that a ceiling has been imposed upon the possession of wealth, property and objects of enjoyment and that there is no possibility of an unceasing and excessive accumulation of wealth, etc. at any single place for when earnings exceed the fixed ceiling instead of amassing the surplus one is obliged to spend it away and such expenditure by householders, who have been observing religious vows and practising self-discipline, cannot but flow in the direction of social welfare. Besides, a ceiling, imposed upon accumulation, curbs the avaricious desire to earn money by unrighteous means. Thus if desire is controlled, there is no further possibility of an enormous accumulation of wealth at a single place, creating serious inequalities and causing upheavals in society. If a similar rule, which is so beneficial to an individual is applied to a collectivity or a nation, it may put an end to all kinds of world-wide misery, murder and destruction.

Page #38

The Jainas attribute a remote antiquity to their religion. According to them, Jainism has been revealed again and again by various Tirthankaras whose chief mission in life was to propagate right knowledge (samyak jñāna), right faith (samyak darśana) and right conduct (samyak caritra) to the people steeped in ignorance of the reality.
Rşabha:
Rsabha was the first among the twentyfour Tirthankaras. According to Jaina accounts he was born in Kosala, and was the son of Kulakara Nabhi and queen Marudevi.
As a king, he acted more as a founder of civilisation than as a despot. King Rsabha taught his people the seventytwo arts, among which writing was the first, arithmetic the most important, and the science of omens the last. As against these seventytwo arts of men, he taught sixtyfour arts to women as well. He introduced the art of cooking, sculpture and pottery painting. He started the institution of marriage, and taught the people how to dispose of the dead.
At last, being disgusted with wordly life, he gave away his kingdom to his hundred sons, and renounced the world. That he did not fail even as a religious preacher is amply borne out by the enormous number of his followers.
Vişņu Purana and Bhāgavata Purāṇa refer to a certain Rsabha, whose life account resembles more or less to that given in the Jaina texts. The details regarding his parents, his elder son Bharata and his wandering in a naked state may be said to be identical with the Jaina account.
The Successors of Rsabha:
Twentythree Tirthankaras are supposed to have followed Rsabha. The Bhagavata Purāṇa mentions Sumati, the 5th Tirthankara. Another Tirthankara, called Aristanemi (the 22nd in the list), is connected with the Krsna legend.
Inspite of such references and the traditional accounts about them, the historians have not yet accepted the historicity of the first twentytwo Tirthankaras.
Pārsvanatha :
Parsva, the 23rd Tirthankara (8th century B.C.), was born of king Asvasena of Varanasi and his queen Vama. Leading his life for thirty

Page #39

178
JAIN JOURNAL
years as a householder, he renounced the world. Undergoing a preliminary period of eightythree days of hardships and bodily mortification, he led the life of a monk for nearly seventy years, and finally attained nirvāna on the Sammeta Sikhara.
Among his royal followers may be mentioned king Pradesi who was converted by Kesi, a disciple of Parsva, prince Aksobha, and the parents of Mahavira. Besides these, some of his distinct disciples were Kalasavesiyaputra, Gangeya, Udaya Pedhalaputra, Pundarika, Parsva the nun, Mehila, Anandaraksita, Kasava and others.
Apart from the Jaina references to the followers of Parsva, the Buddhist texts also refer to them. It may be noted that on these references Jacobi finally proved the pre-Mahavira antiquity of Jainism.
Among the chief cities which he is said to have visited were Ahicchatra, Amalakalpa, Hastinapura, Kampilyapura, Kausambi, Rajagrha, Saketa and Sravasti. From this it seems that he wandered chiefly in the modern provinces of Bihar and U.P.
It also seems that his contact and connections with the powerful ruling magnets must have helped him a lot in the spread of his religion.
The interval between Pārsva and Mahāvīra :
Of the interval of 250 years between Parsva and Mahavira, we have no knowledge, and it is very difficult to say whether, after Parsva's death, his religion was in a flourishing condition or otherwise. One thing, however, is certain that the followers of Parsva even existed in the time of Mahavira. Among the various important disciples of Parsva mentioned before, many came in contact either with Mahavira himself or with his chief disciple Gautama Indrabhuti. It is interesting to note that at Tungiya as many as five hundred disciples of Parsva met Mahavira, and accepted his five-fold dharma.
Mahāvīra :
Vardhamana ‘Mahavira' was born at Kundapura or Kundagrama near Vaisali. His father's name was Siddhartha who belonged to the Jnatr kșatriyas. His mother was Trisala who was the sister of king Cetaka, the ruler of Vaisali and belonging to the Licchavi kşatriyas. Thus on father's as well as on the mother's side he belonged to the royal ksatriya stock. This put him in a very favourable position in winning

Page #40

APRIL, 1972
179
around him a strong royal support in the cause of the spread of his religion.
The Jaina texts mention a number of kings, queens, princes, princesses, ministers and merchants as the disciples of Mahavira. Kings like Kunika, Cetaka, Srenika, Pradyota, Dadhivahana, Udrayana, Virangaya, Virayasa, Sanjaya, Sankha, Kasivardhana and others were said to be his devout followers.
Queens like Prabhavati of Udrayana, Mrgavati and Jayanti of Kausambi, queens of king Srenika and Pradyota, and princesses like Candana, the daughter of the king of Campa were among his followers.
Princes called Atimukta, Padma, grandsons of Srenika, Megha, Abhaya and others were said to have joined the ascetic order of Mahavira.
According to the Jaina texts, Mahavira was connected with many of these kings through his maternal uncle Cetaka, king of Vaisali. This Cetaka was said to have seven daughters who were married to the following persons :
Names :
King of
married to
Prabhavati Padmavati Mrgavati Siva Jyestha Sujyestha Cellana
Udrayana Sindhu Sauvira Dadhivahana Campa Satanika
Kausambi . Canda Pradyota Avanti Nandivardhana Kundagrama
became a nun married to
Bimbisara
Magadha
The Sisunāgas :
Out of these kings, the last in the list, is Srenika Bimbisara, the maternal uncle of Mahavira. This Srenika is to be identified with the Bimbisara of the Sisunaga Dynasty.
That this powerful king had come under the influence of Mahavira is amply borne out by his debate with a Jaina monk as given in the Uttarādhyayana which resulted in an event in which “the lion of kings... together with his wives, servants, and relations, became a staunch believer in the Law.” The Trişașțisalākā also depicts an occasion in which

Page #41

180
JAIN JOURNAL
the king together with his wife Cellana came to pay homage to Mahavira. Besides these, many of his other wives and sons joined the order of Mahavira.
Bimbisara was followed by his son Kunika Ajatasatru who was born to Cellana. Kunika has also been frequently referred to as a devotee of Mahavira. The Aupapātika gives a graphic description of his visit to Mahavira's sermon. Regarding this king the Buddhists and the Jainas differ inasmuch as the former discredit him by saying that he murdered his father and then ascended the throne. The Jainas, however, admit that he harassed his father by imprisoning him, but show that Kunika repented for it when it was too late because his father, misunderstanding his son's purpose, had already taken poison. The account of the Buddhists, perhaps, hints that this king was not favourable to them, while that of the Jainas, which softens down his behaviour, seem to be the outcome of Kunika's devotion to their faith.
Anyway, this king reigned at an important epoch in Indian history, inasmuch as “it was during the reign of Ajatasatru that both Mahavira and Gautama, the great teachers of Jainism and Buddhism respectively, are said to have entered nirvana.” And, from the Jaina account and Buddhist denunciation of him, it appears that his affinities leaned heavily towards Jainism.
The successor of Ajatasatru was Udayi. According to the Jaina accounts, this king also was a devout Jaina. He is credited with the building of a Jaina temple at Pataliputra. That he did not pay merely a lip sympathy to Jainism is proved by the account which says that he practised fasts after the manner of a Jaina layman. Moreover, the very circumstances of his end which made him face death at the hands of a dethroned prince, who had come with a Jaina Acarya, in the disguise of a Jaina monk, make it evident that the Jaina monks had a free access to his palace without any trouble.
Thus these three major kings of the Sisunaga dynasty seem to be the followers of the Jaina faith.
The Nandas :
The successors of the Sisunagas were the Nandas, and the Avašyaka Sūtra makes the first king the son of a barber from a courtesan.
The very fact of their non-Brahmin origin tends to lend support to Jaina accounts of them which show that they were Jainas.

Page #42

APRIL, 1972
The Subodhika Tikā on the Kalpa Sutra says that the minister of the ninth Nanda was a certain Sagadala who was a Jaina, and who was the father of a famous Jaina Acarya Sthulabhadra. As the ministership of the Nandas was awarded in a hereditary fashion, Sthulabhadra's brother succeeded his father, while Sthulabhadra joined the Jaina order of monks.
181
The Kharavela inscription says that that king in the twelfth year of his reign brought back the image of the Kalinga Jina stolen away by the Nandaraja from Kalinga to Magadha. This shows that not only the Nandas were devotees of Jainism, but that at their time Jainism was somewhat an established religion of a community in Kalinga.
This fact gets corroboration even in the Jaina texts. For instance, the Vyavahāra Vāşya says that there was a certain king Tosalika who was particular about guarding a Jina image in the city of Tosali. References to Mahavira's visit to Tosali are also to be met with.
That the Jaina monks had the trust of the king in them can be seen from the incident that Canakya exploited the services of a Jaina in the revolution which he so successfully brought about in the overthrow of the Nandas.
The Mauryas:
The successors of the Nandas were the mighty Mauryas who were perhaps the first emperors of a large part of India.
The origin of the Mauryas seems to have been with Candragupta, who according to the Jaina accounts, was the son of a peacock-tamer.
in
According to the Jaina tradition, in the reign of the king Candragupta, Bhadrabahu predicted a famine of twelve years Magadha, and migrated to South India with a number of disciples, the chief among whom was Candragupta.
Scholars are not unanimous either regarding this tradition about Candragupta or that about Canakya who according to Jaina texts died a death by sanlekhaṇā or fast unto death. While some historians like Rice and Smith accept the tradition of Bhadrabahu's migration to the south with Candragupta, others like Fleet doubt it. An epigraph of c.600 A.D. at Sravana Belgola refers to the migration of Bhadrabahu

Page #43

182
to the south. Apart from this, the mention of 'sarmanes' by Megasthenes who visited the court of Candragupta sometimes between 305297 B.C., may be taken as a sufficient proof of the ascendancy of Jaina monks under Candragupta. Unless, therefore, any contradictory evidence comes to light we may accept the Jaina affinities of Candragupta.
JAIN JOURNAL
Moreover, the silence of Brahmanical sources may mean three things. First that he may not have patronised Brahmanism or that he was an orthodox Brahmin himself, or that they did not know much about his end as he has said to have died far away from his capital, i.e., at Sravana Belgola. The epithet 'Vrşala' applied to him in the Mudrarākşasa, however, suggests that in regard to certain matters he did deviate from strict orthodoxy."
If, therefore, we accept the view that Candragupta was a Jaina, then it may be said that he not only made Jainism firm in north India, but also had a hand in spreading it to the southern parts of his empire. as he was one of the pioneers to go there with Bhadrabahu.
Bindusāra :
Bindusara was the successor of Candragupta. It is difficult to say anything about his affinities or otherwise towards Jainism as the Jaina sources are silent about him.
Asoka :
Asoka, the first sovereign ruler of India, succeeded Bindusara. The broad-based liberalism so evident in his edicts has led some scholars to believe that he was a Jaina, while there are others who say that he was a Buddhist.
From the edicts themselves, scholars like Kern opine that "his inscriptions with a few exceptions, contain nothing particularly Buddhistic".
Rev. Heras rightly observes, he was "especially influenced by the Jaina doctrines as regards sacredness and inviolability of life".
Strange enough, Jaina literary evidence is silent over the state of Jainism under Asoka's rule.

Page #44

APRIL, 1972
• 183
Kunāla :
The Jaina texts give an interesting account about this son of Asoka. It is said that in the city of Pataliputra there was a king Asokasri. His son was Kunala who was given the province of Ujjayini for his maintenance. When the prince was eight years old, Asoka sent a message 'that the prince should be taught quickly. The stepmother of the child, however, gave an anusvara over 'a' (adhiyatām) which made the order as 'quickly make the prince blind'. When the prince saw the order, he himself took out his eyes. After some time, Kunala pleased the king and asked him to hand over the kingdom to his son Samprati who was in his previous birth a disciple of Arya Suhasti. The emperor granted the request and Samprati was made the viceroy of Ujjayini, who afterwards conquered the whole of Daksinapatha
Besides this, “the reality of the existence of Kunala is established by the combined testimony of the Pauranic and Buddhist works (which represents him as the father of Samprati) as well as the evidence of Hemacandra and Jinaprabha Suri, the well-known Jaina writers.
.. Two things, however, may be noted : that Kunala never succeeded Asoka, and that Ujjayini rather than Pataliputra was coming into prominence.
Samprati and Dasaratha :
With the passing away of Asoka, two of his grandsons seem to have come to prominence—Samprati and Dasaratha. It is not clear as to what the relations between these two were, and Jaina and Buddhist traditions even omit the name of Dasaratha. But his historicity has been attested by his dedication of the caves to the Ajivika sect on the Nagarjuni Hill.
It may, therefore, be possible that both these grandsons of Asoka ruled simultaneously, Samprati at Ujjayini and Dasaratha at Pataliputra.
Out of these two, Samprati was said to be a great patron of Jainism. When after his rise to kingship, he came in contact with the famous pontiff Arya Suhasti at Ujjayini, he became devoted to the Acarya and accepted the vows of a Jaina layman.
Samprati invited all his vassals and explained to them the Jinadharma. Thus festivals and worship of the Jina images began to be

Page #45

184
celebrated in all the countries round about Ujjayini. He also asked his feudatories to prohibit killing of living beings in their regions, and make the touring of monks safe.
JAIN JOURNAL
It may be said, therefore, that Samprati furthered the cause of Jainism with perfect zeal, though the sphere of the Mauryan activity shifted from the eastern parts of our country to somewhat western or central India. He opened up further regions in the south for the spread of Jainism, the beginnings of which were probably already made by his great-grand-father, Candragupta.
Khāravela:
We have already referred to the carrying away of a Jaina image by the Nanda king from Kalinga. This presupposes the existence of Jainism in an established form even before the times of the Nandas.
The Udayagiri and the Khandagiri hills which are strewn with caves for the monks, and some of which contain inscriptions in the Brahmi script which may go back to the Mauryan age, prove to be a sufficient evidence of the flourishing condition of Jainism in Kalinga in about the second-third century B.C.
The Inscription of Kharavela:
This inscription contains seventeen lines, but it is of immense importance to the history of Jainism in Kalinga. It opens with the salute to the Arhats and the Siddhas in the typical Jaina tradition. Then the account begins with the story of his life right from his fifteenth year. The points of importance from Jaina point of view are the following:
(1) He made the king of Magadha, Bahasati-mitra, to bow down
to his feet. Then he set up the image of the Jina of Kalinga which had been taken away by king Nanda to Magadha.
(2) In the thirteenth year, on the Kumari Hill where the wheel of conquest had been well-revolved (i.e., the religion of Jina had been preached), he offered respectfully royal maintenance, cīna clothes and white clothes to (the monks).
(3) He brought about a council of the wise ascetics and sages
from various quarters.
(4) He caused to be compiled the sevenfold Angas of the sixty four letters which had been lost in the period of the Mauryas. (5) He realised the nature of soul and body.

Page #46

APRIL, 1972
185
On the evidence of this inscription, we may say that image worship —which has been referred to in one of the Argas (Nāyādhamma) regarding the worship of Jiņapadimā by Dovai-was prevalent in Kalinga as well as in Magadha right from the Nandas who were the predecessors of the Mauryas. It means, therefore, that Jainism must have been in a flourishing condition in Kalinga in pre-Mauryan times, and was possibly introduced there by Mahavira himself, as the Jaina texts refer to his visits to Tosali.
Kharavela's defeat of Bahasati-mitra (Pusyamitra) tends to suggest that Kharavela tried to check the reviving Brahmanical influences in Magadha. It is also likely that at the time of invading Magadha, Kharavela might have conquered Bengal and eastern Bihar as well. The existence of Jaina monuments in these parts of our country tend to suggest a strong Jaina influence in this region.
That the members of the family of Kharavela were also influenced by the king's devotion to Jainism is clear from the erection of a Jina temple and the building of some caves by Kharavela's chief queen for the sake of Kalinga śramaņas.
The Jaina literary tradition is, however, markedly silent about their great patron Kharavela. It is difficult to explain why the Jaina traditions which mention without fail even rival kings, should have made Kharavela insignificant by complete absence of any reference to him.
The effects of Kharavela's zeal for Jainism paved the way for the maintenance of the faith for a long time. This has been corroborated by an inscription in the Navamuni cave in the Udayagiri-Khandagiri hills which is dated the eighteenth year of the reign of Udyotkesari. It mentions a certain Subhacandra, a disciple of Kulacandra, an Acarya of Desi gana, Graha kula of the Arya sangha. Scholars attribute it a date round about the 10th century A.D.
Another inscription in the Lalatendu Kesari's cave refers to the fifth year of the reign of Udyotakesari. It is named after the king of the same name belonging to the Kesari dynasty (c. 7-12 century A.D.). It contains a group of Jina images. Besides this, "decayed tanks and decayed temples were caused to shine”.
This patronage to Jainism in general seems to have lasted even upto the 16th century A.D., as Prataparudra Deva of the Surya Dynasty had a great leaning towards Jainism.

Page #47

186
JAIN JOURNAL
Along with Kalinga, Bengal also seemed to have come under Jaina influence. The Paharpur copper-plate of the Gupta year 159 (478-79 A.D.) denotes the existence of the Jainas in Bengal as the epigraph refers to Acarya Guhanandi of Nandi sangha. Jaina Tirthankara images of about 500 A.D. were found out in the mound in Mainamati village in Bengal. Further, Hiuen-Tsang who visited India in the 7th century A.D. says, "the naked Nirgranthas are the most numerous".
State of Jainism after Khāravela in Central and Western India :
We have already referred to the fact that Samprati Maurya introduced Jainism in various regions in India. His younger brother Salisuka is credited with the spread of Jainism in Saurastra as well. From this it may be remarked that Jainism had its followers throughout north India by about the 2nd century B.C.
Round about the 1st century B.C., according to tradition, there arose a great figure called Vikramaditya of Ujjayini who was said to have been converted to Jainism by Siddhasena Divakara, a famous Jaina teacher. Regarding the predecessor of Vikramaditya, Gardhabhilla, the Jainas have an episode which depicts him as one who abducted the sister of the famous Kalakacarya. . The latter sought the help of the Scythian kings in this matter.
Kalakacarya is also said to have gone to King Satayana (Satavahana) at Pratisthanapura, where on account of the convenience of the king Kalaka changed the date of the paryusana festival from the 5th to the 4th of Bhadrapada.
Contemporary with these persons were Padaliptasuri and Vajrasvami. The former is said to have gone to Manyakheta (mod : Malkhed), while the latter is credited with the spread of Jainism to the south. Besides this, a certain king Devapala of Kumarapura was said to have been converted to Jainism, and Arya Khaputa, so the story goes, defeated the Buddhists in a debate at Bhrgukaccha (mod : Broach).
There is, however, little epigraphical evidence to support these but one thing, however, seems certain, and that is that Jainism, inspite of its change of the field of activity, was confident enough to secure royal patronage in the beginning of the Christian era.
Antiquities and Epigraphs of Mathura :
From about the 2nd century A.D. Mathura seems to have formed part of the Kusana empire. Statues and inscriptions of the famous

Page #48

APRIL, 1972
187
kings of this dynasty are found here. It may, however, be noted that these inscriptions do not belong only to the Scythian period, but several earlier ones have also been traced which tend to suggest that Jainism was in a flourishing condition in this region from the 2nd century B.C. or even earlier.
The earliest inscription on linguistic and palaeographic ground according to Buhler, is that which describes the gift of an ornamental arch (pāsādatorana) by a certain lay-follower (sāvakasa) named Uttaradasaka who claimed to be a disciple of Sramana Maharaksita. The inscription itself does not contain the date, but according to him, it may well go back to the 2nd century B.C.
Next in antiquity are two epigraphs one of which, however, is incomplete as it mentions only mahārāja mahākşatrapa ... ma ... Besides these only an invocation of Arhats and the words quoted previously are to be found on the Jaina image. The other clearly refers to the time of svāmisa mahāksatrapasa sodasasa savatsare. This Sodasa has been dated by historians to about the 1st century A.D.
Then we come to the group of inscriptions which directly express the regnal years of Kaniska, Huviska and Vasudeva.
After the Kushana epigraphs, there come those which belong to the Gupta period, and lastly one which belongs to the 11th century A.D.
The following points may be noted from their study :
(1) No 47 of Luders list mentions the setting up of an image at vodva (?) thūpa by a female lay-disciple Dina in the year 79.
In this connection, it may be noted that literary, epigraphical and archaeological evidences corroborate each other. As for the literary evidence, the Vyavahāra Bhāşya refers to a jewelled thūba at Mathura, due to which ill-feeling spread between the Jainas and the Buddhists, which ultimately resulted in the defeat of the Buddhists. People at Mathura were said to be devoted to Jina images which they installed in their houses. This goes well with the find of several Jina images as well as a Jaina stūpa at Mathura due to the excavations carried out by scholars like Cunningham in 1871, Growse in 1875 and by Drs. Burgess and Fuhrer in 1887-96. Only "during the season 1889-90 when the Jaina stūpa and the western Jaina temple were exposed, 80 images of

Page #49

188
Tirthankaras, 120 pieces of stone railings, many miscellaneous sculptures, and numerous inscriptions, of which 17 belong to the Indo-Scythian (Kusana) period, from the year 5 to the year 86, were exhumed". This is enough to give us an idea of the flourishing condition of Jainism in this region in the early centuries of the Christian era.
JAIN JOURNAL
(2) That Jainism was receiving support especially from the trading and lower classes of the society is evident from the fact that the devotees came from such classes as the treasurers, the perfumers, workers in metal, the member of a gosthi (committee), village headmen, wives of caravan leaders, merchants, wives of dancers, goldsmiths, and also courtesans. Sometimes the whole community consisting of the four orders contributed an image for the use of all. Thus a strong, organised body of the lay-followers maintained the spirit and the existence of the Jaina church.
(3) That the monks and the nuns were active in propagating their faith is evident from the fact that a majority of these dedications were done at the instance or advice of a religious teacher, either male or female.
(4) The order of nuns seemed to have been well-organised and well-supported as they played their part in inducing the lay-women to dedicate images and votive tablets (āyāgapaṭas).
(5) From the various ganas, kulas, sākhās and sanbhogas, it appears that the Jaina church was grouped in minor units with a proper set of hierarchy over them.
(6) The dedications are not only to Mahavira but even to other Tirthankaras like Rsabha and Parsva. This tends to lend support to the traditional view that before Mahavira there were many other Tirthankaras. Besides this, the discovery of several images of the Jinas shows that idol worship was firmly established among the Jainas in this period, and the monks were indirectly encouraging the people to have images and stūpas.
The Gupta Empire:
The period from the extinction of the Kusanas upto the advent of the Guptas is one about which we have scanty material.
The rule of the Guptas has been looked upon by many scholars to be the period of the consolidation of Brahmanism. It would, however, be wrong to suppose that the Guptas were fanatical Vaisnavites. On the

Page #50

APRIL, 1972
189
contrary, it would be better to call them the best examples of religious toleration because they did not seem to suppress other faiths. This tolerant spirit of the Guptas has been evidenced both by literary as well as by epigraphic corroboration. For instance, the Kuvalayamālā of Udyotana Suri refers in its introductory verses to a certain Toraraya and his guru Harigupta belonging to the dynasty of the Guptas. This Tora king has been identified with Huna king Toramana (death, first decade of the 6th century A.D.). Harigupta also has been identified with the Harigupta of a copper coin bearing the name, by Cunningham. It may, therefore, be said that the Guptas were not certainly anti-Jaina.
This can further be evidenced by a few epigraphs belonging to the reigns of Kumaragupta and Skandagupta which go to prove that Jainism also flourished modestly side by side with Brahmanism and Buddhism. First, the Udayagiri cave inscription of G. E. 106 (426 A.D.) which belongs to Kumaragupta's reign (414-55 A.D.) refers to the dedication of an image of Parsva by Sanghala, disciple of Gosarman of Arya kula. Another inscription from Mathura speaks clearly of the paramabhattārakamahārājādhirājasrikumāragupta, and mentions the installation of an image by a lady Samadhya at the instance of a Jaina guru who belonged to the Kottiya gana and Vidyadhari sākhā. The famous Kahaum pillar inscription of G. E. 140 (460-61 A.D.) which belongs to the reign of Skandagupta (455-67 A.D.) tells us that a man named Madra dedicated five images of the AdhikartȚs or Jinas on a stone pillar in the village of Kakubha in the modern tahsil of Deoriya in the Gorakhpur district.
Besides, there are a number of other inscriptions belonging to the different kings of this dynasty, which throw light on the religous toleration of these kings. The people also were tolerant. This is amply corroborated by the copper plate of Paharpur, already mentioned, dated G.E. 159 (4787-9 A.D.) and falling in the reign of Budhagupta. It records the gift of land by a Brahmin couple for the maintenance of worship in a Jaina virara presided over by Guhanandi at the village of Vatagohali (Rajshahi District). Even a century after the fall of the Guptas, Hiuen-Tsang describes the existence of naked Jaina mandicants in the temples of north Bengal.
With these references with us, we may say that Jainism was prevalent in the Gupta period, though it was not in a flourishing condition as in the previous period. But as the Paharpur plate shows, it had vitalising energy enough to win sympathy even among the Brahmins. Therefore, even though it lacked a direct royal patronage, it had firm roots in the masses.

Page #51

Transfer of Mahavira's Embryo
Kankali Tila, Mathura, 1st Century A. D.
4 cunt ther
Saka Ladies Worshipping the Triratna
Kankali Tila, Mathura, 1st Century A. D.

Page #52

190
Post-Gupta Period:
Very little is known regarding the history of India in general in the half century that followed the Guptas. Harsa who succeeded the Guptas in north India after a century or half, even though of a strong Buddhist affinities, gave grants to Jainism also.
During the post-Gupta period Jainism prospered under the rule of the Gurjara-Pratiharas, Gahadvalas, Candellas and the Kalacuris in Rajputana, U.P., C.P., and C.I., while Bihar and Bengal were predominantly Buddhist under the Palas and the Senas. Orissa, which was once a centre of Jainism, turned into a Hindu centre. This does not, however, indicate that Jainism was completely wiped out from either Bihar, Bengal or Orissa.
The Pratiharas:
JAIN JOURNAL
Inspite of their Brahmanical affinities, the Kanauj Pratiharas did not suppress other sects. As a matter of fact, we come across two Jaina inscriptions belonging to the period of the Pratiharas one of which is inscribed on the pillar of a Jaina temple at Deogarh in the Lalitpur sub-division of the Jhansi District of U.P. It refers to the reign of Bhoja in which a certain man called Deva, a subject of the Mahasamanta Visnurama who was a feudatory of Bhojadeva, erected a pillar in S. 784 (862 A.D.). The same place contains "the ruins of an extensive group of Jaina temples". The other, belonging to the reign of Vatsaraja, dated V.S. 1013, and found at Osia (32 miles north of Jodhpur), refers to the construction of a Jaina temple. From these stray epigraphs and the existence of archaeological remains, it may be said, that Jainism did flourish under the Pratiharas of Kanauj.
Candellas:
Under the Candellas whose seat of kingdom was Jejabhukti, (Bundelkhand) and who ruled from c. 9th century A.D., onwards, Jainism seems to have prospered on a large scale, for several inscriptions and magnificent temples still bear witness to it.
Several kings of this dynasty favoured the building up of Jina temples. For instance, the Khajuraho Jaina temple inscription mention that a certain Jaina layman gave gifts to the jinalaya in the form of a garden (bāṭikä). This Jaina gentleman was "held in honour by Dhangaraja".

Page #53

APRIL, 1972
191
Coming to the reign of Madanavarman, we have as many as five inscriptions: (1) Khajuraho Jaina Image Inscription (1147-48 A.D.)-- Mentions only Sresthin Panidhara ; (2) Horniman Jaina Image Inscription (1150 A.D.) --Dedication of an image by Sresthi Maula of the Grahapati family of Mandilapura ; (3) Mahoba Jaina Image Inscription (1155 A.D.)- Dedication of Neminatha image by Rupakara Lakhana ; (4) Khajuraho Jaina Image Inscription (1157-58 A.D.)—Image of Sambhavanatha set up by a certain Sadhu Salhe; and (5) Mahoba Jaina Image Inscription (1163 A.D.)—Refers to the dedication of a Jaina image.
In the reign of Paramardi also we have Mahoba image inscription inscribed on a broken Jaina statue dated 1168 A.D.
From the localities of these inscriptions, it seems that Khajuraho and Mahoba were two great centres of the Jainas under the Candell This has been corroborated by the excavations at Khajuraho carried out by Cunningham as early as 1874-77, which yielded a large number of standing and squatted Jina figures.
Gahadvalas (c. 1075-1200 A.D.):
Even though a majority of the epigraphs found so far of this dynasty of Varanasi and Kanyakubja are Brahmanical in nature, yet, the existence of Jainism among the mass of the population is evidenced by a number of archaeological remains in the form of broken Jaina temples and images found in this region. It may be, therefore, that the kings of this dynasty were tolerant of Jainism.
Kacchapaghatas of Rajputana and Central India :
The various branches of this dynasty ruled from c. 950 to 1125 A.D. Out of these, we have evidence of the existence of Jainism under at least two branches :
(a) Kacchapaghatas of Gwalior :
A fragmentary Jaina image inscription dated 977 A.D. contains only the name of the king Vajradamana, which proves that the king was not unfavourable to Jainism.
Coming to the reign of Mahipala, we have the Sasbahu inscription (1093 A.D.) which mentions certain Yasodeva Digambararka. Probably the same person has been also termed as Nirgranthanatha in the

Page #54

192
JAIN JOURNAL
Gwalior fragmentary inscription (1104 A.D.). But it is strange to note that this Nirgranthanatha composed the record at the setting up of a linga. If the term is to be understood as the name of a Jaina person then it possibly suggests the degree of religious toleration the Jainas exibited during the period.
(b) Kacchapaghatas of Dubkund :
A certain inscription found on a pilaster of a Jaina temple now turned into a mosque, falls in the reign of Vijayapala of this branch. Dated 1043 A.D. the epigraph begins with a salutation to the Siddhas and refers to a certain Mahesvarasuri of the Kamyaka gaccha. It then tells us that this Acarya died in 1100 V.S. after which Sadhu Sarvadeva wrote a praśasti.
The Debkund stone inscription (1088 A.D.) gives a more clear-cut statement about the condition of the Jaina organisation. Starting with an invocation to the various Tirthankaras and also to the Srutadevatās, the inscription tells us that two Jaina traders who were friends of the king Vikrama Simha (1070-1100) A.D.), took a prominent part in the building up of a Jina temple at the instance of a certain Vijayakirti of the Latavagata gana. The king also gave a grant of land for the purpose of worship and maintenance of the temple, as also for the oil for the lamps and for anointing the bodies of holy men. It thus shows that the Jainas had mustered strength due to royal patronage and were in a flourishing condition.
Haihayas of Tripuri :
Inspite of the predominance of Hindu monuments under the Haihayas who ruled in the U.P. and C.P. from about the beginning of the 9th century A.D. to about the first quarter of the thirteenth century, widespread Jaina remains in these regions show that along with Brahmanism with its various cults, Jainism was also in existence. Images of Jaina Sāsanadevis, Tirthankaras and other Jaina sculptures found at Sahagpur, Jura, Jubblepore, and Bahuriband are a sufficient testimony to the Jaina affinities of at least a section of a people in this region under the rule of the Haihayas.
Paramaras of Gujarat, Malwa and Rajputana :
As in the case of Haihayas, so also among the Paramaras, there were several kings who were devotees of Siva. Inspite of this, however,

Page #55

APRIL, 1972
193
we have a number of epigraphical and literary evidence which goes to prove that the kings of this dynasty indirectly patronised Jainism during their rule in Malwa and Rajputana between the 9th and the 14th century A.D.
For instance, Kalvan (Nasik District, Bombay) plates of Yasovarman, give an eulogy of the Paramara king Bhojadeva (c.1010-55) A.D.) during whose reign the former got a town called Selluka from the latter. Now in the village called Muktapali in the Audrahadi-vais ya, the Samanta the illustrious Ranaka Amma of the Ganga family, being convinced of the Jina dharma through the preachings of the Acarya Ammedeva, gave some land at Mahisabuddhika, the holy tirtha of Kalakalesvara (10 mls. from Kalvan, Nasik District). Along with this, the local commercial community granted the income of fourteen shops, two oil mills and flower-gradens to the temple of the Jina in the Sveta country (equivalent to the modern northern portion of Nasik District). The temple was dedicated to Munisuvrata.
From this, it seems that especially the trading and the middle classes had an affinity for Jainism and that some members of it had sought the goodwill of the Paramara Bhojadeva also.
Coming to the reign of Arjunavarman, we find that he patronised great poets who have been claimed to be theirs by the Jainas. These three persons were Madana, Bilhana and Asadhara. Regarding the first who was the royal preceptor of Arjunavarman, Jaina literary tradition says that he was "taught by Asadhara", the famous Jaina writer. Bilhana was “another luminary in Arjunavarman's court, who is described as "Mahapandita' in the royal grants. He served the Malava prince as his Sandhivigrahika, and is referred to as Mahakavi in Jaina tradition.” More famous than these two was Asadhara, the writer of Jinayajñakalpa, Trişaştismrti, Sāgāradharmāmsta and Anagāradharmāmsta.
That even the successors of Arjuna, viz., Devapala and Jaitugi were not unfavourable to Jainism can be proved from the fact that under the former the same Madana continued to be the royal priest, while under both these kings, Asadhara could get leisure and patronage enough to complete all his four masterly works. The Modi stone-inscription (V.S. 1314) of the reign of Jayavarman II found in a Jaina temple shows that Jainism was having a reputed and responsible existence under the Paramaras in Central India and Rajputana.

Page #56

194
JAIN JOURNAL
Gujarat and Kathiawad :
The association of Jainism and Gujarat have been, according to Jaina literary sources, a matter of remote antiquity. It is said that Neminatha, the 22nd Tirthankara renounced the world in Kathiawad.
Coming to the historical period, we may not be wrong in supposing that "the first wave of Jainism passed over Gujarat-Kathiawad when Bhadrabahu went to the south in the 4th century B.C.” We have, however, no literary or epigraphic evidence to corroborate the statement.
A more definite proof of the Jaina contact with Gujarat can be had in Junagadh inscription of the grandson of Jayadaman, the ruler, which refers to ‘kevalajñāna', a purely Jaina technical term signifying omniscience. Along with this, in the Bawa Prara caves at Junagadh we find Jaina symbols like the svastika, bhadrāsana, nandipada, Minayugala and others which resemble with those found on the āyāgapațas at the Jaina stūpa at Mathura.
Another indication of the early Jaina settlements in Kathiawad is evidenced by the Jaina images of c. 300 A.D. found at Dhank in Gondal State. Coming to the early medieval period we have scanty evidence about the state of Jainism in Gujarat. But it may be noted that the Gujarat branch of the Pratiharas had two kings named Jayabhatta and Dadda whose titles ‘Vitaraga' and 'Prasantaraga' betray traces of Jaina influence.
Unfortunately no archaeological information under the Gujarat Calukyas regarding the prevalence of Jainism is available, while under the Rastrakutas of Gujarat, the existence of Jainism is evidenced by the Rastrakuta copper-plate of A.D. 821 falling under the reign of Karkaraja Suvarnavarsva, mentioning the Sena sangha, a branch of Mula sangha and the existence of Jaina temple and monastary (vasahikā) at Nagasarika (mod. Navasari). In the absence of any archaeological or literary evidence, it is difficult to measure the full extent of Jaina influence in this region.
Valabhi, which is known from traditional sources to be a stronghold of the Jainas after their exodus from Magadha, is scarcely referred to be so in the inscriptions. This non-confirmation by epigraphical evidence, let alone archaeological, is surprising.

Page #57

APRIL, 1972
195
The Calukyas :
All the three insciptions of Mularaja reveal nothing peculiar regarding Jainism. He was a devotee of Siva. Some of his late successors ike Bhimadeva and Jayasimha seem to have been Saivaits. Regarding the former, it may be said that inspite of his Saivite leanings, he never came in the way of Jaina followers as is clear from the fact that he allowed his minister Vimala to build the excellent Vamalavasahi at Abu. Regarding the latter, Jayasimha, it may be noted that even though he is said to have built the temple of Rudra Mahakala at Siddhapura and also the magnificent lake Sahasralinga at Patan, he was a great friend of the famous Jaina scholar Hemacandra. According to the latter, the king is said to have worshipped Neminatha on his way back to Anhilvada from Somanatha, and also erected a temple of Mahavira at Siddhapura.
Kumarapala, the successor of Jayasimha elevated the position of Jainism still higher, and in his reign it became the state religion.
The services rendered by Kumarapala to Jainism were of a distinctive nature. Besides offering liberal royal patronage to Jaina temples and teachers, he proclaimed amarīghoșaņā throughout his kingdom and prohibited the killing of living beings on certain days. Besides these, there is epigraphical evidence to show that his feudatories also prohibited animal slaughter. It is "principally due to this order passed 800 years ago, Gujarat is still mainly vegetarian.”
With the exit of Kumarapala a reaction was set upon the royal patronage to Jainism, for his successor, Ajayapala, was a devout Saiva and an enemy of Jainism. He is said to have destroyed Jaina temples. But inspite of this onslaught, Jainism seems to have flourish Jaina ministers and rich merchants. Amongst these, the names of Vastupala and Tejapala stand out in bold relief. Both these ministers of the Vaghelas, a branch of the Solankis, built magnificent temples at Abu, Girnar and Satrunjaya, and several epigraphs stand testimony to their Jaina allegiance. Besides this, popular support to Jainism is evidenced by Jaina temples at Talaja, Amarana (Nawanagar State) and at Camby the construction of which took place in this period.
· Prevalence of Jainism in Rajputana can be attested by the epigraphs of the Cahamanas, Cudasamas, Guhils, Rawals, Rathods and the rulers of the Surya Dynasty. It may, however, be noted that even though these kings did not seem to have come in the way of the lay

Page #58

196
JAIN JOURNAL
devotion to Jainism, many of them were devotees of Surya and Siva. As noted elsewhere, the Rastrakutas of Hastikundi also helped the spread of Jainism to some extent, to which the 10th century Jaina temple at Jodhpur by Vidagdharaja, and the Bijapur stone inscription of Dhavala informing us about the renovation of the Vidagharaja temple in the 10th century, stand testimony. Several Jaina scholars like Haribhadra, Udyotana Suri and others flourished and enriched the literature of the Jainas.
The Deccan :
It is difficult to say anything regarding the state of Jainism in the ancient period, at least from c. 4th century B.C., to the beginning of the Christian era.
Several inscriptions found near Mysore speak of the reign of the Nandas over Kuntala. The identification of Nav Nand Dehra with Nander and the view advocated that Paithan was the southern capital of the Nandas tend to suggest that Deccan also formed a part of the Nanda empire. However, we have no evidence either literary or archaeological, to this period to show that these kings who had taken away the Jina image from Kalinga and whose ministers according to Jaina evidence were Jainas, spread Jainism in the Deccan as well.
Coming to the Mauryas, we have the traditional account of the migration of Candragupta with Bhadrabahu, to the south. It is difficult, however, to say what path this famous pair of guru-sişya adopted. The same want of evidence is to be found in the reign of the great Asoka. Jaina literay evidence, however, credits the spread of Jainism from Ujjayini to the Deccan and to the southern countries to Samprati, the grandson of Asoka. But here also, we have no other evidence to corroborate this Jaina tradition.
The successors of the Maurayas, viz., the Sungas, do not seem to have held their sway over the Deccan, and until we come to the Satavahanas we have no definite material regarding the history of the Deccan in general.
Regarding the king Salivahana the Jaina literary tradition says that this king ruled at Paitthana. It seems that Arya Kalaka tried to influence the king inasmuch as the former changed the date of the paryuşaņa festival from the fifth to the fourth day so as to suit the convenience of the king who was busy on the fifth day.
.

Page #59

APRIL, 1972
Coming to the Ksatrapas, we find that Nahapana was a patron of Buddhism over and above the rest of the faiths. The Jaina literary tradition speaks of a certain king Muranda of Paitthana whose headache was cured by Padaliptasuri. But we have no definite corroborating evidence to show whether Padalipta with the help of this king spread Jainism in the Deccan.
197
Regarding the state of Jainism or even its existence under the Abhiras and Traikutakas, the successors of the Satavahanas, we have practically no evidence. Coming to the Vakatakas, we find they were Brahmanical rather than Jainas. It is only when we come to the Calukyas and their successors that we can have a more clear picture of Jainism both in the Deccan and the Karnataka than we could have in the reign of previous dynasties. Under the western Calukyas of Badami, we have both epigraphical and archaeological evidence to prove that Jainism was in a flourishing condition in the Deccan in the early medieval period. (c. 500-950 A.D.)
The following Jaina records of the Badami Calukyas are known :
(1) Altem Copper-plates, Kolhapur State, refers to Samiyara, a feudatory of Pulakesin, who built a Jina temple in S. 411 in Alaktakanagara with the permission of Pulakesin and granted lands to it.
(2) Aihole Inscription, Bijapur District, dated S. 556, refers to the poet Ravikirti whose patron was Pulakesi Satyasraya, who built a Jina temple.
(3) Lakshmeshvar Inscriptions, Dharwar District, undated. A certain king of the Sendra family granted land to Sankha-Jinendra.
(4) Lakshmeshwar Inscription (ii), dated S. 610, mentions Vijayaditya who gave a village to his father's priest who belonged to Deva gana of the Mula sangha, for the benefit of the temple of Sankha Jinendra at Pulikara.
(5) Adur Inscription, Dharwar District, undated of the reign of Kirtivarman II. Grant of land by an unnamed chief to a jinālaya.
(6) Adur Inscription (ii), of the reign of Kirtivarman I, refers to the grant of rice land to the Jinendra temple. The priest Prabhacandra acquired this grant.

Page #60

198
Besides these records, we have caves at Badami (c. 650 A.D.) with images of Tirthankaras, those at Aihole (c. 700 A.D.) with the figure of Mahavira and other Jaina symbols like makaras and dvarapalas, the caves of Dharasiva (c. 600-650 A.D.) in the Hyderabad State, with Tirthankara images-all these reveal a prosperous condition of Jainism in the Deccan in the 7th century A.D.
JAIN JOURNAL
Under the Rastrakutas whose different branches ruled in Gujarat, Rajputana and the Deccan, we have a flourishing state of Jainism, as some of the kings of this dynasty were devout Jainas themselves. For instance, Amoghavarsa had great leanings towards Jainism, which is evidenced by the fact that Jinasena, the writer of Adipuraṇa, was his preceptor. Moreover a certain Jaina mathematician called Mahaviracarya, the writer of Ganitasärasangraha, who was a contemporary of Amoghavarsa, calls him as the follower of syadvāda. Amoghavarsa seems to have granted land for a jinālaya at the request of his subordinate Bankesa. "It would seem that he was often putting his Yuvaraja or the ministry in charge of the administration, in order to pass some days in retirement and contemplation in the company of his Jaina gurus.'
Krsna II, another king of Rastrakutas, had Gunabhadra, the compiler of the last five chapters of Adipurāṇa, as his preceptor. The same king gave a grant to the Jaina temple at Mulgund.
Indra III, the successor of Krsna II, was also a patron of Jainism, as is evidenced by his building a stone pedestal for the bathing ceremony of Santinatha.
The last king of the dynasty, Indra IV, is said to have accepted death in the typically Jaina fashion called sailekhaṇā (i.e., fast unto death).
Besides these, we come across other kings in this dynasty who were influenced by Jaina tenets. For instance, the Kadaba copper plate dated S. 735, says that king Prabhutavarsa (i.e., Govinda III) on the request of one Cakiraja, granted the village of Jalamangala to a Jaina monk Arkakirti on behalf of the temple of Jinendra at Silagrama, in remuneration for his having warded off the evil influence of Saturn from Vimaladitya, the governor of Kunugil District.
Even the feudatories of the Rastrakutas were influenced by Jainism inasmuch as the Rattas of Saundatti, Bankeya the governor of Banavasi and his son Srivijaya, a general of Indra III-all these were patrons of Jainism.

Page #61

APRIL, 1972
199
This royal patronage did not result simply in temple-building and grants of land. Far more important than that was the rise of a number of Jaina scholars who wrote masterly works on logic and enriched various branches of literature. Some of these writers were Samantabhadra, Akalanka, Vidyananda, Manikyanandi, Prabhacandra, Jinasena, Gunacandra, and Pampa.
Coming to the late Medieval period (c. 950-1300 A.D.) in the Deccan, the following important Jaina records of the Kalyani Calukyas may be noted :
(1) Parbhani Copper-plate, Hyderabad State, date S. 888. Grant of a village for the shrine Subhadama jinālaya to the poet Somadeva by Arikesari III.
(2) Saundatti Inscription, Belgaum District, S. 902. Grant to a Jina temple by Ratta Santivarman, a feudatory of Calukya Taila II.
(3) Huli Inscription, Belgaum District, S. 966. Construction of a Jina temple and grants to it during the reign of Somesvara I.
(4) Arasibidi Inscription, Bijapur District, S. 969. Akkadevi, during the reign of Somesvara I, granted land to the Jina temple at Vikramapura, 'for the maintenance of the establishment and of the attached friars and nuns, among whom special mention is made of Nagasena Pandita of the Hogari gaccha of the Virasena gaņa of the Mula sangha.
(5) Balagamve Inscription, Mysore State, S. 970. Grant by a private person to a Jaina temple when Mahamandelsvara Cavundaraya, a subordinate of Somesvara I, was holding Balligave.
(6) Mulgund Inscription, Dharwar District, S. 975 (Reign of Somesvara I). Refers to a Jaina Sandhivigrahadhikari Baladeva who gave an estate to Nayasena as trustee for the supply of food to a basti.
(7) Gowarwad Inscription, Dharwar District, S. 993 and 994. (Reign of Somesvara II). Refers to Mahamandalesvara Laksma who granted some estates to the Jaina temple at Annigere ; also refers to the grant of land by General Rachideva for the cult of Kalideva and Jinas.
(8) Gudigere Inscription, Dharwar District, S. 998. Records that Srinandipandita, a Jaina guru acquired possession of some fields

Page #62

200
JAIN JOURNAL
which were under the control of the Jaina temple called Anesejjayabasadi which was built by Kurikumahadevi, the younger sister of Calukya Cakravartin Vijayaditya Vallabha at Puregere and gave 15 mattras out of these lands to his disciple Singayya which the latter allotted for the purpose of providing food for the Saints at Gudigere. Grant by the same teacher to the temple of the god Bhuvanaikamalla Santinathadeva.
(Reign of Vikram
(9) Lakshmesvara Inscription, Dharwar District, Cal. Vik Era 6 (Reign of Vikramaditya VI). Feudatory Eremayya made a grant to Jaina cult under the care of Narendrasena of Sena gana of Mula sangha.
(10) Konnur Inscription, Belgaum District, S. 1009 (Reign of Vikramaditya II). A grant by Nidhiyamagamanda to a Jaina Temple.
(11) Konnur Inscription, Ca. Vik. 37. (Reign of Vikramaditya VI). Grant of land to a Jaina temple of Parsvanatha by a Brahmin Officer.
(12) Terdal Inscription, Sangli State, S. 1045 (Reign of Vikramaditya VI). Grant by Mandalika Gonkidevarasa to Neminatha.
(13) Huli Inscription, Belgaum District, no date (Reign of Vikramaditya VI). Construction of and grants to a Jaina temple.
(14) Hunasikatti Inscription, Belgaum District, S. 1054 : (Reign of Somesvara III). Grant by Mahamandalesvara Narasimhadeva to the God Ekasaleya Parsvanatha.
of somosvarantil
(15) Huli Inscription, Belgaum District, S. 1067 : (Reign of Jagadekamalla II). Grant by Nimana to the Jaina temple, and for the maintenance of ascetics.
(16) Kalholi Inscription, Belgaum, S. 1127. Grants at the order of Ratta Mahamandalesvara Kartyaviryya IV, for a Jaina Temple.
These inscriptions give us a fair idea regarding the extent of royal patronage to Jainism under the later Calukyas of Badami. It seems therefore that not only the kings themselves of this dynasty, but even their feudatories and their officers were liberal towards Jainism.
This tide of popularity and patronage seems to have considerably ebbed out under the Kalacuryas for Bijjala was a devout Saiva. The

Page #63

APRIL, 1972
set back to the Jainas seems to have hung heavily on them even under Yadavas as we do get fewer Jaina inscriptions under them. For instance :
(1) Anjaneri Inscription, Nasik District, S. 1063. Grant of two shops to the temple of Candraprabha by Seunacandra of the Yadava
race.
1
201
(2) Bijapur Inscription, S. 1119. Commanders of Jaitrapala made a grant to a sage Candrabharana.
(3) Bijapur Inscription, S. 1179. Grant of land by Karasideva to a Jaina temple, now turned into a mosque.
(4) Belur Inscription, Mysore State, S. 1193. Kuci Raja built a Jina temple, and gave grants of land, shops and arecanut gardens to it. His guru was Padmasena Bhattaraka of Pagab-gaccha of the Senagana of Mula sangha.
(5) Belgami Inscription, Mysore State, S. 1216 (or 1218). Grant of lands to Jaina temples and to basadis.
The Silaharas of Kolhapur also seem to have patronised the Jainas as would be clear from the following epigraphs:
(1) Honnur Inscription, Kolhapur, no date. Grant of land and of a house by Ballala and Candaraditya for the provision of food to the ascetics. Basadi was built by Bammagavunda of the PunnagaVrksamula gaṇa of the Mula sangha.
(2) Kolhapur Parsvanatha Temple Inscription, S. 1058. Creation of basadi by Mahasamanta Nimbadevarasa.
(3) Kolhapur Inscription, S. 1065. Grant by Mahamandalesvara Vijayadityadeva for the worship of Parsvanatha.
Karnatak, Mysore and Vengi :
The contact of Karnataka and its adjoining regions with Jainism is associated with the migration of Bhadrabahu to Sravana Belgola.
From Bhadrabahu to the advent of the Gangas in century A.D., we have but a hazy picture of Jainism.

about the 2nd Regarding the

Page #64

202
position of the Jainas in the Sangam period (c. 2nd century A.D.) on the authority of works like Kural, Silappadikāram and Maṇimekhalai, it can be said that the "fervent manner in which Jaina beliefs and morals are depicted, the copious references to Jaina centres of learning and the description of the society in general, leave no doubt in the minds of the readers of the epics, the impression, that the religion of the Arhats was embraced by large and even increasing numbers of the Dravidians." The comparative simplicity of Jaina worship, the exclusive character of Brahmanical rites and the perfect organisation of the Jaina community are the causes that must have led to the Jaina hold over the country in that period.
The creation of Ganga kingdom (2nd-11th century A.D.) through the active agency of Simhanandi who gave refuge to two forlorn princes from the North, in about 2nd century A.D., laid a firm foundation for the prosperous career of Jainism under the Gangas. It became a state religion due to which the Jaina monks giving up their traditional seclusion from the political affairs, came out in the role of king-makers and royal advisers.
JAIN JOURNAL
Simhanandi was not satisfied simply giving them a kingdom, but he guided the princes regarding the principles of policy inasmuch as he wanted them that 'if they did not approve of the Jina Sāsana, if they seized the wives of others, if they ate honey or flesh, if they formed relationship with the low if they fled from the battlefield, then their race would go to ruin.' Thus the great ascetic set within proper limits the principle of ahimsa in conformity with kingly duties.
...
The marvellous feat of cutting asunder a stone pillar by a single stroke of the sword given by Simhanandi to Kongunivarman, has been interpreted as the removal or doing away with the Buddhist influence in Karnataka symbolised in the existence of the Buddhist monuments near the place of the meeting of Simhanandi and Kongunivarman. "Kongunivarman's demonstration of physical strength brought about it, indeed 'sovereignty' to the Jainas: and the reward which he secured for this remarkable feat was a kingdom."

Besides Kongunivarman, his successors were also Jaina patrons. For instance, Avinita had his preceptor in Vijayakirti at whose instance the king gave grants of land to the Jina temples. The same king has been described as one "in whose heart the Supreme Jina footprints are fixed."

Page #65

APRIL, 1972
Sivamara I (670-713 A.D.) also liberally helped the spread of Jainism and granted lands to Jina temples. Other kings of this dynasty like Sripurusa Muttarasa Prthvikonguni II, Sivamara II, Ereyappa, Prince Duggamara, Marasimha and Racamalla-all these were devout patrons of Jainism, who coming under the sway of Jaina tenets, built magnificent basadis, temples and establishments for the Jainas.
203
Not only kings but even their feudatories and ministers fostered the cause of Jainism, and out of these, the figure of Camundaraya minister of the Ganga Racamalla (IV), and the builder of the colossal image of Gommatesvara at Sravana Belgola, stands out prominently.
Another dynasty that liberally patronised Jainism was that of the Kadambas (c. 3rd century A.D.) The following are some of the Jaina records of this dynasty :
(1) Ruler: Kakusthavarma, middle of the 5th century A.D. Records grant of land to a certain Srutakirti for the purpose of worship to Jinendra.
(2) Ruler: Mrgesavarman, grandson of Kakusthavarman, who ruled between 475-490 A.D. Grant records that in the third year of his reign, the king granted some fields for the cleaning of the Jina temple and for the image-worship with ghee.
(3) Same ruler, 4th year of his reign. The village granted was to be shared equally by the Svetapatas, Nirgranthas and the Arhats.
(4) Same ruler, 8th year. The king built a jinālaya, and granting lands for it handed it over to the Kurcakas (naked ascetics) for the maintenance.
(5) Ruler Ravivarman. He passed orders for the celebration of the festival of Jinendra for eight days from the full-moon day of Kartik out of the revenues of the village Pumkhetaka granted for the purpose. The ascetics were also to be supported during the four months of the rainy season, and the people were asked to perform worship of the Jinendra.
(6) Ruler: Ravivarman. Grant of land to the Jina temple.
(7) Same ruler. Grant of land by the king's brother Bhanuvarman for the ablution ceremony to the Jinas.

Page #66

204
(8) Ruler Harivarman. Grant of a village to the Kurcakas under Varisenacarya, in the 4th year of his reign. Purpose of the grant was to anoint the Arhat with butter and for the purpose of feeding the Kurcakas.
(9) Same Ruler, 5th year of his reign. Grant of a village at the request of his feudatory, Bhanusakti of the Sendraka family, for the use of the Aharisti sramanas under Dharanandi.
Devavarman. Grant of land to the Yapaniya
(10) Ruler: sect of the Jainas.
JAIN JOURNAL
It may be noted here that "Jainism was really a popular religion in the Kadamba empire and that there were many people who were worshippers of Jinendra. Jaina mathas were established in all parts of Karnataka. The inscriptions speak at length about the Jaina monasWe learn tery at Kuppatur, and give a short geneology of the gurus. from records that queen Malaladevi patronised this institution. At Bhandavapura there was another famous matha. The flourishing city of Belagami also contained a representative Jaina population and there existed a Jaina monastery."
Coming to the Eastern Calukyas of Vengi who were a branch of the Calukyas of Badami and who reigned from 624 A.D. onwards with Vengi as the seat of their kingdom, we find the following information regarding their attitude towards Jainism :
Reign of Visnuvardhana I. His queen Ayyana Mahadevi "favoured the Jaina monks of Kavururi gana with a shrine called Nadumbivasati at Bezwada."
Amma II. Patronised the Jainas for he gave grants to the Jaina ascetics of the Nandi and the Addakali gaccha.
Vimaladitya. He was probably converted to Jainism in his later age.
Regarding religious conditions under the Eastern Calukyas it can be said that "the Jaina monks were very active... The deserted images met with in the ruined village sites all over the country show that the Jaina settlements were numerous, and an appreciable section of the people paid homage to the Arhats and Tirthankaras Several inscriptions of the Eastern Calukya monarchs and their subjects record the construction of basadis and temples and register the gift of lands and money for their maintenance."

Page #67

APRIL, 1972
205
Another dynasty that helped the cause of Jainism more vigorously was that of the Hoysalas. According to epigraphical evidence the very creation of this dynasty was the work of a Jaina monk. It was in the fitness of things, therefore, that the Hoyasalas should have given a wholehearted support to Jainism. This is corroborated by several epigraphs of this dynasty. For instance; Vinayaditya was under the influence of the Sudatta Vardhamana. Another sage Santideva was the guru of Vinayadittya II due to whose blessings the king could expand the glory of his kingdom, and after whose death the king erected a memorial in his honour. The king was also under the influence of Abhayacandra to whom he granted land. The religious zeal of the king, therefore, resulted in the erection of several temples and basadis for the Jainas.
The successor of Vinayaditya was Ereyanga who was also a disciple of Gopanandi, a great debator and logician. To him the king granted a village. It is said in one of the epigraphs that Gopanandi "caused the Jaina religion which had for a long time been at a stand still, to attain the prosperity and fame of the time of the Ganga kings.
During the short rule of Ballala I also, Jaina monks were respected. It is said that this king was cured of his illness by Carukirtimuni.
The next king Visnuvardhana was also devoted to Jainism as he named his son Vijaya Narasimha after the god Vijaya Parsvanatha whose temple was built by one of his generals.
The successor of Visnuvardhana was Narasimha I. A reference to his visit to Sravana Belgola occurs in one of the inscriptions.
His son Vira Ballala I proved to be a worthy king and he increased his realm as well as his patronage to Jainism. His preceptor was Vasupujyadeva of the Nandi sangha under whose influence the king granted villages for Jaina purposes.
Out of the remaining kings of this dynasty, Narasimha III was a devout Jaina and his guru was Maghanandi.
Further South :
We have already seen that the Tamil literature of the early centuries of the Christian era shows great influence of Jaina ideas and principles. Yet, Jainism could not fare better under the rule of the

Page #68

206
JAIN JOURNAL
royal dynasties of the south like the Pandyas, Pallavas and the Colas. Though a few cases of their patronage to Jainism are not lacking, yet later kings of the Pandyas and the Pallavas helped the wiping out of Jainism from South India under the influence of Saivite teachers. Of the Cheras, it is said that three kings of this dynasty round about the beginning of the Christian era and a couple of centuries after it, had a Jaina guru, and the Jainas continued to be their spiritual heads right upto the 5th century A.D. Guerinot mentions a couple of inscriptions which go to prove that some kings of the Cholas were not unfavourable to Jainism.
It is, however, under the Pandyas and ne Pallavas that Jainism had to face tough days. Before their conversion to staunch Saivism they were probably not unfavourable to Jainism. Dr. A. N. Upadhye remarks in this connection, that “the kings of Conjeepuram were patrons of learning, since the early centuries of the Christian era upto the 8th century A.D., from Samantabhadra to Akalanka, we hear that Jainism was being propagated round that place. It is not improbable, therefore, that the Pallava kings at Conjeepuram, during the first centuries of this era, were patrons of Jaina religion and were themselves Jainas by faith.” In fact Kanci and Madura were great Jaina centres. It is said that the Jaina scholar Samantabhadra converted king Sivakoti of the Pallavas a Saiva devotee, to Jainism by showing him a miracle, and that in the 7th century A.D. Akalanka defeated the Buddhists in a debate after which a certain king Himasitala drove them away to Ceylon. Po
Brahmanical leaders like Kumarila, and Sankaracarya (8th century A.D.), and the Saivites under Nanasambara Appara (7th century A.D.). Sundaramurti and Manikka Vacakara (9th century A.D.), however, led a campaign against Jainism which resulted in the conversion of many Jainas. All these in collaboration with the Vaisnava Alvars effectively checked the spread of Jainism in the South.
Royal patrons also sided with these faiths. Mahendravarman of the Pallava dynasty embraced Saivism and the Pandyas of Madura followed them. All consideration of religious toleration were set aside and Mahendravarman destroyed a large number of Jaina monasteries. “But what is surprising is not that contemporary Saiva and Vaisnava Saints should have pictured darkly the Jainas in their religious works, but that the traditionally generous Hindu mind should have portrayed in a series of frescoes on the walls of the Golden Lily Tank of the well-known Minaksi temple at Madura, the darker and sadder side of the struggle

Page #69

Earonia
A Colossus, Sravana Belgola
Reared his mighty stature ; On Earth stood his feet, His naked limbs glittering Upon the dark blue Sky Where the Eagles cry and
Vultures laugh.
- W. BLAKE

Page #70

APRIL, 1972
207
between the vanquished Jaina leaders and the exultant Hindu reformers of the tenth and the eleventh centuries. Here on the walls of the same temple are found paintings depicting the persecution and impaling of the Jainas at the instance of Tirujnanasambandhar. And what is still more unfortunate is that even now the whole tragedy is gone through at five of the twelve annual festivals at the famous Madura temple." ! (Saletore).
Vijayanagara :
Due to this persecution, Jainism was weakened but not wiped out. Moreover, it found a few patrons among the Vijayanagara rulers. For instance, Bukkaraya I is said to have brought about a reconciliation between the Jainas and the Vaisnavas. Several inscriptions stand testimony to the constant feuds between these two sects. However, Bukka cleverly managed to reconcile both sides. His feudatories and subordinates as also minor dynasties helped the cause of Jainism to some extent.
Jainism under the Muslims :
The ebbing tide of the Jaina influence was further weakened by the ever encroaching waves of Muslim aggression. The glory of Madura was laid down bare and looted by Malik Kafur, general of Allauddin Khalji. Later on with the complete liquidation of the Vijaynagar Empire, religious toleration had no meaning, and with the advent of the Imperial dynasties of Muslims at Delhi, all indigenous religions including Jainism had to face a creed far more aggressive in spirit, policy and execution.
That even among such rulers Jainism could get a few supporters speaks highly of the calibre of Jaina monks. Muhammad Ghori, for instance, is said to have invited and honoured a Jaina monk at the request of his Begam. Allauddin Khalji is said to have honoured an able Digambara Acarya who went all the way from the south to north to explain Jaina tenets to the king. The same king is also said to have honoured a certain Ramacandra Suri.
Other instances of Muslim liberality were those of Firuz Tughlaq who honoured a Jaina a monk Ratnasekhara, and that of Muhammad Tughlaq who received Simhakirti. Among the rulers of Sur dynasty, we have Sikandar Sur who honoured a Jaina monk Visalakirti.

Page #71

208
JAIN JOURNAL
It was, however, in the reign of Akbar that we have somewhat more information about the contact of the Jainas with the Muslims. Epigraphical evidence shows that Acarya Hiravijaya had a great influence over Akbar, due to which the latter prohibited animal slaughter near Jaina holy places, freed these places from taxes, and gave the Acarya a title of 'Jagadguru'. Besides him, Akbar is said to have come in contact with other Jaina Acaryas named Jinacandra, Bhanucandra and Siddhacandra.
Jehangir drew orders for the protection of Satrunjaya and conferred the title of Mahātape' on Vijayadeva Suri. Another Jaina monk named Jinasimha Suri was giveu the birude 'Yugapradhāna'.
The successor of Jehangir, Shah Jehan and Aurangzeb though least enthusiastic about non-Islamic sects, seem to have maintained at least the previous grants. The former drew a 'farman' for the protection of Satrunjaya while the latter granted the region around Satrunjaya together with its revenue to Santidasa, the Jaina jeweller at his court.

Page #72

The one thousand years, from 100 B.C. to A.D. 900, cover the better part of what is known as the ancient period of Indian history. It was during this millennium that Indian civilization was at its highest and its cultural progress most vigorous. Indians not only had permanent contacts and maintained communication with the outside world but also took their culture to far off lands, both in the west and in the east, Indianized the indigenous peoples of those countries, established many Indianized kingdoms and founded Indian colonies. Together with the abundance of its own resources brisk foreign trade made India the most prosperous and wealthy country in the then civilised world. A settled society that guaranteed security and leisure was best suited for thinking minds to blossom and for arts and sciences to flourish. Moreover, it was during these centuries that India attained a most perfect cultural unity. And among other causes this was all due principally to the mutual toleration and healthy cooperation of the three great religious systems, the Brahmanical, the Buddhist and the Jaina, which amicably flourished side by side in almost every part of the country and drew their adherents from almost all sections of the people. All the three vied with each other in making the life of the people nobler and happier and in enriching the national culture with the finest specimens of art and architecture, and of literature and scientific learning. No wonder, therefore, that the best and the greatest number of Jaina contributions to Indian culture belong to this period.
The most distinctive contribution of Jainism to art was in the realm of iconography. As with every thing else in life the Jainas appear to have carried their spirit of acute analysis and asceticism into the sphere of art and architecture. There are minute details, for instance in the Mānasāra, which show that there was a regular system of sculpture and architecture to which the workers were expected strictly to conform. Innumerable Jaina images made of stone, metal and even of gems are available. As Walhouse has remarked, "The Jainas delighted in making their images of all substances and sizes, but almost always invariable in attitude whether that be seated or standing. Small portable images of the Saint are made of crystal, alabaster, soap-stone, blood-stone, and various other materials ; while the larger are carved from whatever kind of stone is locally available.”
At the same time, there is no period or century in the annals of Indian art for which ample material relating to Jaina religious sculpture is not availble. K. P. Jayaswal had discovered a Jaina image of the Maurya period. The Hathigumpha inscription of Kharavela (2nd century B.C.) speaks of the setting up of an image of the Jina in Kalinga.

Page #73

212
JAIN JOURNAL
Next in age but perhaps the greatest religious establishment of the Jainas was at the Kankali Tila site in Mathura. It had a continued history of about 1400 years (2nd century B.C. to A.D. 1100) and the sculptured treasures found at this place are of the greatest aesthetic and iconographic value. Specimens of Jaina icons and sculptures from Rajgir (Bihar) Udayagiri (Bhilsa) Kahaum, Deogarh, Chanderi, Khajuraho, and various other places in the North and from different parts of Maharastra, Andhra, Karnataka and the Tamil countries, belonging to this period, speak eloquently of the development of the art of sculpture at the hands of the Jainas. The Tirthankara images, which no doubt are the most abundant, do afford some ground for the criticism that they are uniform and give little scope for display of individual genius, but in the representation of numerous lesser deities belonging to the Jaina pantheon and of the scenes from the traditional life stories of the Tirthankaras and other celebrities of yore the artist was not resticted by any prescribed formulae and had much greater freedom. He also could and actually did give full play to his genius in carving secular scenes from contemporary life, which are sometimes marvellous, highly informative and full of aesthetic beauty. The Jaina art of Mathura and of several other places abounds with such stray pieces of sculpture including votive tablets, stone railings and bas-reliefs. Then in the Jaina religious art many common elements with the Brahmanical and the Buddhist art are found and there are evidences of mutual give and take. Hence there is no doubt that the subject of Jaina iconography is of great importance for a proper reconstruction of the religious history of ancient India. The quantum of available material justifies the claim of Jaina art for discussion in a special treatise.
Another peculiar contribution of the Jainas, not only to the South Indian but also to the whole of Indian or even Eastern art is the free standing pillar found in front of almost every basadi or Jaina temple in South India. There are about twenty such pillars in the district of South Canara alone.. The Mathura Jaina Elephant Capital of the year 38 (or A.D. 116), the Kahaum Jaina pillar with the image of PancaJinendra carved on it (G.E. 141 or A.D. 460), the Deogarh Jaina pillar of the reign of Bhojadeva of Kannauj (V.E. 919 or A.D. 862) and the Jaina Victory pillar of Chittor are some of the available North Indian examples. The Jaina pillars are generally known as the Mānastambhas and are tall and elegent structures with a small pavillion at the top on the capital, surmounted by a small dome or sikhara. They are quite different from the Dīpastambhas (lamp-posts) of Hindu temples. Walhouse remarks, “The whole capital and canopy (of Jaina pillars) are a wonder of light, elegant, lightly decorated stone work and nothing

Page #74

APRIL, 1972
213
can surpass the stately grace of these beautiful pillars whose proportions and adaptations to surrounding scenery are always perfect and whose richness of decoration never offends."
Apart from these pieces of individual statuary of architectural work, the Jainas are said to have distinguished themselves by their decorative sculpture, and to have attained a considerable degree of excellence in the perfection of their pillared chamber which were their favourite form of architecture. These took various shapes and gave full play to a variety of designs, differing according to the locality, the nature of the climate or the substance available out of which to execute their artistic ideals. About these ancient and mediaeval temples of South India, Logan observes, “The Jainas seem to have left behind them one of their peculiar styles of temple architectre ; for the Hindu temples, and even the Mohammedan mosques of Malabar, are all built in the style peculiar to Jainas, as it is still to be seen in the Jaina basadis at Mudabidri and other places in South Canara.” About the pillars found in these temples, Fergusson says, "Nothing can exceed the richness or the variety with which they are carved. No two pillars are alike, and many are ornamented to an extent that may almost seem fantastic. Their massiveness and richness of carving bear evidence to their being copies of wooden models.” Some of these temples have been declared by reputed connoisseurs of art as the finest specimens of ancient Indian architecture. In fact, many of the decorative carvings are so full of human interest that the austere asceticism which symbolised itself in the huge, stoic and naked Tirthankara images was more than counterbalanced by the abundance and variety of these sculptures which in a sense gave expression to the later and emotional Jainism. Another feature of Jaina art is the representation of the Naga Snake images are very frequent about Jaina temples, particularly in Mysore and Canara And it may be said that it is the Naga that binds together and gives unity to the various religions of South India.
As regards cave architecture, the early Jaina monks being mostly forest recluses (Vanavāsīs) the Jaina caves of Bihar (Barabar hills and Rajgir), Orissa (Khandagiri and Udaygiri), Saurashtra (Girinagar), Central India (Udayagiri and Ramagiri), Andhra (Rama Konda), Karnataka (Candragiri), extreme south (Tinnemalai and Sittanavasala), Deccan (Nasik) and other parts, situated far from human habitation, served as veritable, though temporary, refuges for the wandering Jaina ascetics. But from the 3rd 4th century A.D. onwards the practice of caityavāsa or living a more or less settled life in temples and establishments generally in or near habitation gradually gained ground. It is why in the days of
.

Page #75

214
JAIN JOURNAL
Ajanta and Ellora we find but few Jaina caves being built. As Smith says, "the varying practical requiements of the cult of each religion, of course, had an effect on the nature of the buildings required for particular purposes." Hence the paucity of Jaina caves in later times as compared with either Buddhists or Brahmanical ones, is a strong commentary upon those who adversely reflect upon the ascetic nature of the Jaina religion. The importance attached to the lay community as well as the active part played in worldly life by the Jaina monks, must largely account for the fact that although like the Buddhists the Jainas had a monastic organisation it never attained power like that of the Buddhist order. According to Burgess, as against 720 Buddhist and 160 Brahmanical we have only 35 Jaina cave-temples. The earliest of these belong to the 5th or 6th century A.D. and the latest perhaps to the 12th.
By far the most interesting caves of the Jainas from the artistic point of view, are the groups called the Indrasabha and Jagannath sabha at Ellora. They constitute a maze of excavations leading from one into another. Percy Brown says, "No other temple at Ellora is so complete in its arrangements or so finished in its workmanship as the upper storey of Indrasabha, all the large sunk panels between pilasters on every wall being filled with figure subjects, while the pillars, admirably spaced, and on occasion joined by dwarf walls, are moulded, fluted and faceted, as in no other instance."
Almost adjoining to the Indrasabha is the Jagannath sabha, similar in general plan but smaller in size. Its walls are also recessed for figure sculpture, and the pillars are richly carved in the style in which the Jaina artist excels. As Burgess says, "The architects, who excavated the two Sabhas at Ellora, deserve a prominent place among those, who regardless of all utilitarian considerations, sought to convert the living rock into quasi-eternal temples in honour of their gods."
In fact, in India rock-hewn architecture reached its highest development in the region of the Western Ghats. The caves of Ajanta are the first, but "though the series at Ellora commenced nearly at the time when the excavation at Ajanta ceased, immense interest is added by the introduction of temples belonging to the Hindu and Jaina religions, affording a varied picture of the mythology of India during the period of its greatest vigour, such as is nowhere else to be found." Ellora served as a veritable meeting place of Brahmanism, Buddhism and Jainism and perhaps is the most suitable place for a comparative study of the art developed by them.

Page #76

APRIL, 1972
215
Yet Ellora forms one of a group, there are others, more ancient, further south, for example, the Jaina excavations at Badami, Aihole, Patany, Nasik, Dharasiva, Ankai and Junagarh, as well as at Kulumulu (in the Tinnevelly district). The caves of Dharasiva (37 miles north of Solapur) are perhaps the largest of these, and that of Kulumulu, now used by the Saivas, is described as 'a gem of its class'. The Nasik caves have a large number of cells or halls for the monks and indicate the existence of a large establishment and centre of learning there in the Rastrakuta period. Those at Ankai, in Khandesh district, though smaller, "have some very beautiful female dancing figures on petals bearing musical instruments. It may be noted here that these escavations are not copies of structural edifices.” The early Jaina caves were more in the form of natural caverns such as are found at Sittannavasala and other places in the erstwhile Pudukotta state in South India. Some of them contain polished stone beds which are rightly believed to be sanlekhanā beds of Jaina ascetics. Inscriptions in the Brahmi script of 3rd-2nd century B.C. found therein conclusively show them to be adhişthānamah or Jaina monasteries. They were probably the places of resort for worship or penance and continued to be so till the 7th-9th centuries A.D. when under the Pallava rulers of Simhavisnu's line cave temples were scooped out of the rocks. The cave temples on the western slopes of the Sittannavasala hill cut in the time of Mahendravarman I (7th century A.D.), are resorted to even to this day by Jaina pilgrims from different parts of south India. From the 10th century A.D. onwards, however, structural architecture began to replace rock-hewn architecture. The rock-cut style seems to have been a sort of passing episode in the architectural history of the Jainas and was dropped by them when it was no longer wanted. Fine structural edifices began to be built in this period but the ruins of only a few have survived. This branch of Jaina architecture was mostly developed from 9th to 15th century A.D. and saw its climax in that period in the South as well as in the North,
The earliest form of Jaina architecture seems to have been the stūpa. The Jaina Vodva sūpta unearthed at Kankali Tila site of Mathura has been considered as not only one of the earliest discovered buildings in India apart from the Indus Valley discoveries, Dr. Fuhrer who superintended the excavation of the Stūpa said, "The stūpa was so ancient at the time when the inscription was incised that its origin had been forgotten. On the evidence of the characters the date of the inscription may be referred with certainty to the Indo-Scythian era and is equivalent to A.D. 156. The stūpa must, therefore, have been built several centuries before the beginning of the Christian era, for the name of its builders would assuredly have been known if it had been erected

Page #77

216
during the period when the Jainas of Mathura carefully kept record of their donations". In fact, as J. Fleet observed, "The prejudice that all stūpas and stone railings must necessarily be Buddhist, has probably prevented the recognition of Jaina structure as such, and up to the present, only two undoubtedly Jaina stūpas have been recorded." Vincent Smith also says, "In some cases, monuments which are really Jaina have been erroneously described as Buddhist."
JAIN JOURNAL
The stupa seems to have been a feature of the early North Indian Jaina architecture. Hence when during the post-Christ centuries Jainism went on declining in the north, at the same time gaining greater and greater strength in the south and the Deccan, the niṣadya of Karnataka type seems to have replaced the stupa as a funeral monument. These nişadyas or chatris are often found bearing foot-prints of the saints in whose honour they were erected. Still the practice of erecting stūpas did not altogether cease as we find evidence of their erection at Mathura, Hastinapura, etc., even in mediaeval times.
The Jainas did not lag behind in the realm of painting either, Traces of old paintings are still to be seen on the ceilings of Jaina caves at Ellora. There are also some at Kancipura and Tirumalai in the south. Dubreuil has drawn attention to others at Sittannavasala near Tanjore, assigned to the 7th century A.D. These paintings are in rock-cut temple and are akin in style to Ajanta. More interesting are those of Tirumalai (N. Arcot). Smith says, "the Jaina holy place at Tirumalai is remarkable as possessing the remains of a set of wall and ceiling paintings ascribed, on the evidence of inscriptions, to the 11th century A.D..". Traces exist of still older paintings covered up by the existing works. Art of mural painting continued with the Jainas even in later times and on the walls of the Matha at Belgola there are several examples of how the chief tenets of their religion were sought to be inculcated by means of this art. Symbolic representations of the religious tenets, scenes from Jaina Puranas and even secular subjects like a South Indian king's court, and so on, were handled by the Jaina artists. Miniature painting, the art of illustrating manuscripts with pictures, even writting whole stories in pictures, and calligraphy, in which also the Jainas attained a high degree of excellence, belong to later times.
Another form of Jaina art developed in this period is that of inscribing on rock or copperplates, some of which are of no less artistic interest than they are of historical value. The Kudlur plates of Narasimha Ganga, for example, are literature, art and history rolled in one. Practicularly noteworthy in it is the seal which is beautifully

Page #78

APRIL, 1972
executed. The banners of Jaina kings are also not without interest. Those of Ganga Parmadi and Hastimalla indicate the stamp and symbol of Jainism, viz., the Piccha Dhvaja, described as 'the banner of the divine Arhat'. A study of Jaina religious and mystic symbols is likely to help in determining the authorship of many an antiquarian finds and in determining the influence of Jainism on the coins and seals, and grants and ensigns of a number of ancient states and rulers.
217
95
The Jainas showed taste always in selecting the best views for their temples and caves. At Ellora they came perhaps too late when the best sites had already been appropriated by the Buddhists and the Saivas, but speaking of the Jaina ruins at Hampi, Longhurst observes, "Unlike the Hindus, the Jainas almost invariably selected a picturesque site for their temples, valuing rightly the effect of environment on architecture." The hill originally occupied by them, south of the great Pampapati temple, is significantly called the Hemakutam or the golden peak. There is also not a more picturesque spot in the vicinity than that chosen and occupied by the Jainas at Sravana Belgola, their chief centre in the South. Similarly, Mulabidri, their great stronghold in South Canara, is marked by natural beauty and convenience and shows how wise the Jainas were in choosing the site for their establishments.
Other fine arts like dancing and music were also cultivated by the Jainas, as these formed part of their religious devotion and ritual. The Jaina literature, paintings and sculptures of the period have numerous representations of or references to these arts.
In the field of epigraphy, the Badli inscription of M.E. 84 (or 443 B.C.) is the earliest dated Indian inscription and that, too, in the Mahavira era. The Hathigumpha inscription of Kharavela occupies a unique position as the source material of Indian history for the centuries preceding the Christian era. It also proves that Jainism entered Orissa, and probably became the State religion within 100 years of Mahavira. It may also be noted that it is the first known inscription which uses the name Braratavarsa (bharadhavasa) for our country.
Next comes the numerous inscriptions from Mathura of the Sunga, Ksatrapa and Kusana periods, quite a number of which are dated. Vincent Smith says about them, "The inscriptions are replete with information as to the organisation of the Jaina church in sections known as gana, kula, and sakha, and supply excellent illustrations of the Jaina books. Both inscriptions and sculptures give interesting details, proving the existence of Jaina nuns and the influential position in the

Page #79

218
JAIN JOURNAL
Jaina church occupied by women. The plates (published by Buhler in EI, Vol I) throw light, among other things, on the history of the Indian or Brahmi alphabet, on the grammer and idiom of the Prakrit dialects, on the development of Indian arts, and on the history, organisation and worship of the followers of this Indian religion.” They undoubtedly contain valuable information about contemporary life, society, customs, manners, fashions and even things political.
From the 2nd 3rd century onwards upto the 10th century we have only a few inscriptions in northern India, scattered over Mathura, Bihar, Bengal, Central and Western India, some of which are quite important. But it is the South—the Deccan, Konkon, Karnataka, Andhra, Tuluva, and Tamil lands which during the next centuries abound with numerous Jaina inscriptions, on stone, images, temples and monuments, copper-plate grants and other donative records. They are full of valuable historical information and many of them are dated. A large number of them have been published and are being utilised for historical purposes. Yet quite a number of them still remains unnoticed. Without the help of these records the history of almost none of the ruling dynasties, big or small, belonging to the regions south of Vindhyas could have been fully reconstructed, whereas some of them owe their historical and chronological reconstruction almost wholly to Jaina epigraphic records. As Dr. B. A. Saletore observes, “The numerous epigraphic records and literature of Karnataka, the Telegu and Tamil lands give us an idea of the remarkable contribution Jainism made to the stability and success of many kingdoms.”
Coming to literature, the Jainas of the period cultivated the various languages current in the country. From the 1st to the 8th century A.D. Prakrit works predominate, and the best and greatest amount of Prakrit literature belongs to the Jainas. They began writing in Sanskrit also as early as the 1st-2nd century A.D., but it is only from A.D. 600 onwards that Sanskrit works begin to predominate, and there are quite a number of Jaina pieces of Sanskrit literature which compare favourably with the best in that language. The cultivation of the Apabhramsa language by the Jainas also dates from about the 7th century A.D., and in the period under review some of the best works in that language were produced. The Jainas were undoubtedly the earliest and the greatest cultivators of the Kannada language. The beginnings of the literary history of this language is traced back to the 4th-5th century A.D., and by the 10th century the Jainas had made it a well-established literary language. Similarly, about the Tamil literature it has been said that the best and largest number of the available ancient classical works in that language are of Jaina authorship.

Page #80

APRIL, 1972
The Jainas also made use of all the current literary styles, both in prose and poetry and even invented new such as the Campu (prose and poetry mixed). They did not hesitate to borrow or adopt what they thought was best in non-Jaina classical literature. Epics, Pauranic kāvyas, didactic pieces, devotional poems and lyrics, tales and stories, dramas and romances, allegories and satires-all these the Jaina writers of the period handled with success. Apart from their ontological, metaphysical, philosophical and ritualistic literature they wrote valuable works on logic and dialectics, ethics and politics, grammar and lexicon, poetics and prosody, yogic sciences and medicine, mathematics and astronomy, astrology and other occult arts. Here and there we get useful technical information about music, painting, sculpture, architecture and town-planning. Interesting information about zoology, botany, alchemy, chemistry and other physical sciences is also not wanting. The Puranas, Caritras and the commentaries on the Agamas are full of geographical information which can help to identify many an unidentified site and to locate new ones. We also find names of many yet unknown kingdoms, foreign lands and non-Aryan tribes. The Jaina literary sources also throw a flood of light on India's inland and foreign trade both by land and sea routes, on commerce and industry, commercial organisations and trade guilds, market conditions and economic life of the people, and on means of transport and communication. There are some vivid accounts of sarthavahas or inland caravans and of mercantile navigation, even of naval military expeditions. Lastly, the Jainas wrote valuable commentaries on a number of important Brahmanical and Buddhist works. This highly tolerant and cooperative spirit of the Jaina scholars helped to create a harmony in the cultural atmosphere of the times and contributed largely to the cultural unity of the country and to its all round progress which the foreign travellers visiting India in those times could not but envy.
219
The few, piecemeal and scattered attempts made by same scholars are enough to prove how Jaina literary traditions can corroborate the evidence of many an archaeological discovery, viz., the flood of Pataliputra in the time of the Muranda kings (3rd century A.D.), the invasion and devastation of Taxila by the Turuskas (3rd century A.D.), the Jaina stūpa of Mathura, the Kalki tradition, etc. A perusal of the works on Greater India shows that Jaina influence as part of general Indian cultural influence can distinctily be traced in the ancient Indialized kingdoms of South-East Asia. (For instance, in those lands vegetarianism predominated and animal sacrifice was almost unknown; their year was Kartik badi like that of the Jainas; it is the Jaina version of the Rāmāyaṇa that was popular there; some of the inscriptions are found

Page #81

220
alluding to certain Jaina things, viz., Tirthankara Parsva, the Jaina work Kalyāṇakāraka and so on.) Then, apart from the strictly historical and chronological data contained in Jaina sources, the Jaina literature, epigraphic records and archaeological remains help us to reconstruct vivid pictures of life and society of different parts of the country in the different periods of its ancient history.
JAIN JOURNAL
In fact, the millennium in question, particularly its latter half (5th-10th century A.D.) was the most flourishing period in the history of Jainism, at least in South India. In those centuries Jainism had no serious militant rival and continued to bask in the sunshine of popular and royal favour. There were other sects which were equally patronised. Philosophical disputations and literary confrontations were also many and quite hot, too, but they were always taken in a sportsman-like spirit, created no ill-feelings and were generally devoid of physical persecutions. India of those times knew no forcible conversions. All the different sects heartily cooperated in the welfare and uplift of the nation. Jainas of the time, however, seem to have been ahead of others in many spheres. For example, as Dr. Altekar observes, "They seem to have taken active part in the education of the masses. That before the beginning of the alphabet proper, the children should be required to pay homage to Ganesa by reciting the formula śri ganesaya namah is natural in Hindu society, but that in the Deccan even today it should be followed by the Jaina formula om namah siddhebhyah shows, as Mr. C. V. Vaidya has pointed out, that the Jaina teachers of that age had so completely controlled the mass education that the Hindus continued to teach their children this original Jaina formula even after the decline of Jainism." It may be noted that the same formula in its corrupt from ona-masi-dhama has been in similar use in many indigenous pāṭhsālās in some parts of North India as well. The opening verse of one of Akalanka's (A.D. 643) works has been adopted as the mangala verse in many later non-Jaina works and inscriptions with the only change that for the word 'Jina' occuring in the original the word 'Siva' has been substituted. Numerous Jaina establishments were varitable centres of learning and served as great vidyapithas from which emanated the light knowledge, which contributed to mass education and also gave specialised instruction to persons of royal families and of higher classes. Food and medicine were provided for in these Jaina mathas and provision was also made for the teaching of Jaina scriptures.
In those days Jainism being a progressive and popular religion could readily adapt itself to political exigencies and take active part in rejuvenating life in the country whenever called upon to do so.
The

Page #82

APRIL, 1972
221
practical effect of such outlook on the part of the great Jaina teachers of the period was profound, and a number of royal families like the Kadambas, the Gangas, the Calukyas and the Rastrkutas, came one after the other sometimes as champions and always as benevolent patro of Jainism. The ministers, generals, feudatories and commercial magnets of these rulers followed suit. Dr. Saletore says, "Jainism in short received universal patronage from all ranks of people. And the leaders in turn reciprocated the trust and reverence which the princes and people reposed in them by contributing in a large measure to the philogophy, literature and arts of the country.” In fact, as Dr. Altekar observes, “It is very probable that at least one third of the total population of the Deccan of our period was following the gospel of Mahavira." The influence of religion is estimated by the result it produces on the character of the people. And "it is gratifying to find”, says Altekar, "that the Arab merchants of the age, inspite of their religious differences pay as high a compliment to the Indian character as was paid by Megasthenes and Yuan Chwang.". He further remarks, “It must be remembered that Jainism preaches the doctrine of ahimsă in a more extreme form than Buddhism, and yet the history of the Deccan of our period shows that it had no emasculating effects upon its followers." Citing a number of examples of the great Jaina men of war he goes on to say, "In the face of the achievements of Jaina princes and generals of our period, we can hardly subscribe to the theory that Jainism and Buddhism were chiefly responsible for the military emasculation of the population that led to the fall of Hindu India.” There is ample evidence to show that the Jainas in large numbers used to enlist in the army and distinguish themselves on the battlefield.
Jainism had gradually popularised itself to such an extent that there was left little outward difference in the rituals, modes of worship and religious celebrations between itself and Hinduism. Often in the same temple Jaina and Brahmanical and even Buddhist gods were installed side by side. Jaina pontiffs like Jinasena (A.D. 770-850) deviated from the orthodox path in adopting many rules and practices enjoined by the Brahmanical Dharmaśāstras and in prescribing them for the Jainas as well. Wide and sympathetic toleration was the characteristic of the age. It seemed as if the people had realised that there was no cultural difference between the different prevailing religions and that an individual might follow any one of them or make a combination of the acceptable elements of any one or more of them as suited his temperament, somewhat in the manner of a modern man of culture who does not realise any inconsistancy in simultaneously becoming a member of different social, cultural and political societies. A certain amount of

Page #83

222
JAIN JOURNAL
feeling was no doubt exhibited in philosophical writings and verbal disputations, but even in these behind the superficial clash there was an inner movement of synthesis. Even the revival of Brahmanism did not affect the fortunes of Jainism for a considerable time, due firstly to royal patronage under a number of ruling families including their official, feudal and mercantile nobility and secondly due to the influence of the work and achievements of a host of illustrious Jaina saints and authors.
Ahimsa in all its positive implications, self abnegation and asceticism were very popular. No Vedic sacrifices are heard of in this period. The Asvamedha yajñas of the early Kadambas and Pallavas, too seem to have been performed without the accompaniment of animal sacrifice and in later times even such token yajñas were given up. The Jaina ascetics were no more forest recluses nor were they like the Saiva Mahantas who were sanyāsis merely in name and lived the life of rich landlords and property-owners. They were, on the other hand, selfless, possessionless and sincere servants of religion, learning and humanity. They lived in temples or basadis or in bigger establishments, and freely mixed with the people. They acted as spiritual guides, confessors, teachers, sympathetic advisers and even physicians. They inspired philanthropic acts and charities, encouraged arts and cultivated literature, both religious and secular. They inspired love and respect, and all classes of people, both men and women, considered it an essential daily duty to honour the guru, serve his needs, obey his injunctions and follow his advice. Worship of the gods, serving the guru, reading the scriptures, self-control, penances and charities constituted the sixfold essential daily religious routine of every member of the laity. The guru was the living embodiment of dharma and served all the purposes of the daily religion of the devotee. And the guru's greatest and unceasing insistence was on the performance of caturvidha dāna by every devotee to the latter's utmost capacity. This act of utmost yet common piety consisted in supplying food and other necessaries of life to the guru, food and protection to the destitute, protection of life to all living beings, medicine and medical aid to the needy, and means of education and knowledge in the form of scriptures, books, schools, colleges, and scholarships to all. The system thus fulfilled all the higher philanthropic, humanitarian, moral and intellectual needs of the society, and no wonder it was popular with all classes of people. Prof. Benoy Kumar Sarkar has classified these four gifts under the term 'Positivism of the Jainas.'

Page #84

Prototype Jina with Triratna, Mohenjodaro
Statuette, Harappa,
Tirthankara, Lohanipur

Page #85

The discovery of Indus Valley Civilisation seems to have thrown a new light on the antiquity of Jainism. The time assigned by the scholars to this culture on the archaeological and other grounds is 3000 B.C. It seems that the people of Indus Valley were highly civilised and cultured. Their culture, however, is ascribed to the Dravidians who, according to the Jaina tradition, were the devout followers of Sramaņa religion as preached by Lord Rsabha, the first Tirthankara and contrary to Vedic beliefs. As they were the followers of Jainism, the Dravidians are styled as Vrātyas along with the Licchavis, Jnatrs, etc., by Manu. Likewise the Asuras were also the followers of Jainism. The Brāhmaṇas say that the Asuras were the progeny of Prajapati (who was no other than Rsabha) and they were hostile to Vedic Aryans. (Rg. 1,174.5). In Brahmanic Vişnu and Padma Purāna it has been clearly stated that Jainism was preached by a naked monk called Mayamoha among the Asuras, who lived on the banks of the Narmada. This region is regarded as a place of pilgrimage by the Jainas even today. Sir John Marshall rightly notes that "a comparison of the Indus Valley and Vedic cultures shows incontestably that they were unrelated. The Vedic religion is normally uniconic. At Mohenjodaro and Harappa iconism is everywhere apparent. In the houses of Mohenjodaro the firepit is conspicuously lacking."
It is a fact that the Jainas are the first Indian people who took to iconism in their religious worship and made the images of their Tirthankaras which resemble those found at Harappa and Mohenjodaro. The Harappa statuette is a male torso in nude form (fig. 5) which resembles the torsos found at Lohanipur (Patna). Dr. K. P. Jayaswal assigned the latter to Mauryan and Sunga periods respectively and declared that “it is the oldest Jaina image yet found in India, as it must belong at the latest to the Mauryan period” (IBORS, March, 1947). In the face of similarities, the nude torso of Harappa seems to represent an image of a Jina, probably of Jina Rsabha. T. N. Ramacandran, Jt. Director-General of Indian Archeology after studying this question independently have declared that "we are perhaps recognising in Harappa statuette a fullfledged Jaina Tirthankara in the characteristic pose of physical abondon (kāyotsarga). The statuette under description is therefore a splendid representative specimen of this thought of Jainism at perhaps its very inception."
Figures on the Mohenjodaro seals also depict the yogic pose and idea of physical abandonment of the Jainas. These figures are represented as nude in standing kāyotsarga pose with a trifūla-like decoration on their head and the eyesight fixed on the tip of the nose, which are

Page #86

226
the characteristics of an image of Jina. Prof. R. P. Chanda discussed it in detail as follows: "Not only the seated deities engraved on some of the Indus seals are in yoga posture and bear witness to the prevalence of yoga in the Indus Valley in that remote age, the standing deities on the seals also show kayotsarga posture of yoga. The kayotsarga posture is peculiarly Jaina. It is a posture not of sitting but standing. In the Adipurāṇa, Book xviii, kāyotsarga posture is described in connection with the penances of Rsabah or Brsabha. A standing image of Jina Rsabha in kāyotsarga posture on a slab showing four such images, assignable to the 2nd century A.D. is in the Curzon Museum of Archeology, Mathura. Among the Egyptian sculptures of the time of the early dynasties there are standing statues with arms, hanging on two sides. But though these early Egyptian statues and the archaic Greek kouroi show nearly the same pose, they lack the feeling of abondon that characterises the standing figures on the Indus seals and images of Jinas in the kayotsarga posture. The name Rsabha means 'bull' and the bull is the emblem of Jina Rsabha."
JAIN JOURNAL

Therefore it is possible that the figures of the yogi with bull on the Indus seals represent the Mahayogi Rsabha. The images of Rsabha with trisula-like decoration on the head in a developed artistic shape are also found at a later period. Thus the figures on the Mohenjodaro seals vouchsafe the prevalence of the religion and worship of Jina Rsabha at the early period on the western coast of the country.

...

Page #87
Registered with the Registrar of Newspapers for India under No. R. N. 12121/66. Summer 1972 For your requirements of JUTE CARPET BACKING HESSIAN & GUNNIES Contact THE AUCKLAND JUTE CO. LTD. CHARTERED BANK BUILDINGS CALCUTTA-1 Post Box 46 Telegram : ULYSSES Phone : 22-2351 (25 lines) 22-9531