Jain Presence In Nepal

Author(s): Ernest Bender
Publisher: Ernest Bender
Catalog link: https://jainqq.org/explore/269705/1

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The Jain Presence in Nepal Ernest Bender * University of Pennsylvania As contrasted with Brahmanism/Hinduism and with Buddhism, there are no readily recognizable traces of Jainism in contemporary Nepal though the Jain presence in the adjacent area in the past is on record. Mahav Ira severely limited the movements of Jain monks and nuns to an area which he defined as an Aryan regiony that is a region where their conduct could be sareguarded It was bounded by Anga-Magadha in the east and Thuna (Thaneshwar) in the west, to Kunala (Sravasti) in the north and KosambI in the south. Under Samprati, the grandson of Asoka, the area was extended to the twenty-five and a half countries comprising his empire, with the charge that Jain munts de venerated. The identification of the last country on the list, KekayI-ardha, has been located at the base of Nepal, in the north-east of Sravasti. (1) of the trade routes of antique times, the Uttarapatha, stretching across the north of the Indian continent, facilitated traffic for the sarthas, the caravans which linked flourishing cities and towns, among then Vaidali, SravastI and Kapi lavastu, -the latter of which Moti Chandra identifies with Tilaurakot in Nepal. He equates Janakpur, in Nepal, with Mithila, the capital of Videba. (2) The itinerant merchant, under the constant threat of robbers lying in wait along his way, entrusted his well-being and precious possessions to the security of the caravan and its skilled sarthavana or

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sart havahana, the entrepreneur, who was responsible for the management and success of the venture. He made arrangements for the operation of the caravan, its route, its schedule, the types of vehicle and, the assignment to them of the participants in each onterprise -- old and young, male and female, merchant, casual commuter, and so on. He dealt with the official representatives of the countries along the route, negotiating with them and paying the required surcharges. (A sartha has been described as a consortium of merchants who invested equal amounts of capital and, travelling in a caravan, carried on trade with outside markets. One might view the sarthavana as a forerunner of the present-day multinational organizations. Furthermore, the caravan leader had many opportunities to observe and store in mind for future reference social scenes and political events set against the background of the geographical phenomena of the areas he traversed. This leads me to the conclusion that the court officials, identified as Breathing (3) (cf., for example, Hindi seth "merchant")[3] were not only financial advisers and tax assessors and as well as collectors to rajas and their officers, but could also function as heads of intelligence networks. equipped with first-hand information obtained from their widely ranging merchant-colleagues. (I need only refer to the Arthasastra's comments on the recruitment for espionage of wayward merchants and monks - Jain and Buddhist.) Por other clues to the Jain presence in Nepal we turn to Jain writings. Moti Chandra in his Trade and Trade Routes in Ancient India which first appeared in Hindi under the title - 2 -

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Sarthavana observes that the canonical literature, the a/gas, the upangas, gatbas, curnis and the commentaries pertaining thereto contain cultural data not found in pali or Sanskrit literature. The sparcity in available texts has made access to this material dire icult. (For example, one encounters in the Paumacariu of Svayambhu of the second half of the 9th century A.D., stray references to Nepal, one to its misk and the other to the thighs of its women. (4)) In discussing the Sart navana Moti Chandra contrasts Buddhist with Jain writers: "...it is dirricult to learn) from Buddhist literature in what kinds of goods the merchants traded and what was their organization ... Jaina 11terature believes in giving even the minutest details ... The Jaina monks were wanderers ... and, while travelling from place to place, they did not fail to observe the life of the people. Jainism was also chietly the religion of merchants and, therefore, the Jaina literature has not failed to describe the various aspects of the le of their followers. Jain monks, wherever they went, studied [the] geographical and social conditions and also the local language in order to preach .. * Whatever ... their date ... the material preserved is ancient. .. Both Digambara and Syetambara traditions are in general agreement that during the reign of Candragupta Maurya (c. 322-298 B.C.) a severe famine in Magadha, lasting a dozen years, forced a migration of the Jains to the south. The Avasyakacurni of Jinadasagaai Mahattara (ri. second half of second century A.D.) first records the Svetambara - 3 -

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tradition describing the move to Nepal of Bhadrabahu, the head of the Sangha. (5) The famed Jain savant Hemacandra (fl. mid-twelfth century A.D.), gives a fuller account in the Sthaviravali or Parisistaparvan, the appendix to his Tripaptisalkapuruscarita. (6) itasca tasminduskale karale kalaratrivat 1) nirvahartham sadhusanghastiram niranidheryayau 11551| agunyamanan tu tada sadhuna vista rutan I anubhyasanato nasyatyadh Itam dhimatamapi 1156: samgho 'tha patal Iputre duskalante 'khilo milat yadangadhyay anoddeduasidyasya tadadade 115711 tataboaikdabangini drIsangho 'melayattada drstivadanimittam ca tasthau kimcidvicintayan 158|| nepalade samargasthan bhadrabanu ea purvinam! jnat va sanghah samanvatum tatah praisinmunidvayam 1159|| gatva natva muni tau tamityuoate krtanjali samadisati vah samghastat ragamanahetave 116011 so 'pyuvaca manaprapan dhyanam rabdhamasti yat I sadhyap dvadasabhirvaga irnirgamigyayahan tatah 116111 mana prane hi nispanne karye kasmimicidagate | sarvapurvani gupyante sutrarthabhyan muhurtatah 116211 tadvacastau muni gatva samghasyabansatamatha | samgho 'pyaparamahuyadideseti munidvayam 116311 gatva vacyah sa acaryo yan drIsanghasya Aasanam | na karoti bhavet tasya dandah ka iti sansa nan 116411 - 4

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samghabanyan sa kart av ya iti vakti yada sa tu ! tarhi taddanqayogyo 'sityacaryo vacya ucsaka in 116511 tabhyam gatva tathaivokta acaryo 'pyevamucivani maivam karotu bhagagansamghah kin tu karotvadan 116611 mayi prasadam kurvanah sr Isamghah praninot viha $isyanmedhavinastebhyan sapta dasyami vacanan 116711 tatraikam vacanam dasye bhiksa caryata agatan | tisrsu kalavelasu tisronya vacanastatha 116811 sayanhapratikramane jate tisro 'parah punan set syatyevam samghakaryam matkaryasyavibadhaya 1169/ tabhyametya tathakhyate sr Isamgho 'pi prasadabhak praninotsthulabhadradisadhupamcasatim tatah 11701 1 tansurrivacayamasa te 'pyalpa vacana iti i udbhajyeyurnijam sthanam sthulabhadrastvavasthita 117111 sr Ibhadrabanupadanta sthulabhadro madda mati purvanamstakam varsa ir apatnIdastabhirbhrsam 117211 kimud bhagnastadityuktan surina so 'bravididam! nodbhajye bhagavankam tu samalpa eva vacanan 117311 suriruce mama dhyanam parnaprayamidan tatan tadante vacanastubhyam pradasyami tvadicchaya 117411 sthulabhadrastatan proce 'dhItagesam ca me kiyat 1 samkhyam gurustada cakhyadbinduda dhyupamana tah 117511 pUrne dhyane mahaprane sthulabhadro mahamunin 1 dvivastunani parvani dada yavatsamapayat 117611 1tyakhyaya sthulabhadranujnata j1jamasrayam 1 - 5 -

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ta yayuh sthulabhadro 'pi vacanarthamagadgurum 1110111 na dadau vacanam tasyayogyo' sityadisadguguh Iksadinat prabhrtyeso pyaparadhanvyacintay at 1110211 cintayitva ca na hyagan smaramIti jagada ca ! krt va na manyase santam papamityavada dguruh 1110311 "During the famine, dreadful like the night of annihilation at the end of the world, to survive the Samgha went to the sea. At that time the sacred texts, neglected, were misremembered by the monks and from lack of practice, were about to be lost, even though they were studied by the learned. When the famine was over the entire Samgha met at Pataliputra and, assembling the fragments they recalled, collected eleven Angas. Thinking to recover the twelfth Amga, the Drstivada, and knowing that the venerable Bhadrabanu (the sole repository of that Amga ) was staying in Nepal, the Samgha sent two munis to call him (to the Council). The two munis went there and bowing reverently addressed him, "The Samgha sends for you," He replied, "I have begun the Mahaprana-meditation which will take twelve years to complete. When I have completed the Mahaprana, I will recount in a short time all the Purvas and the meanings of the Sutras." The two munis went off and repeated his reply to the Samgha. The Samgha, once again, sent two munis with instructions to ask him the punishment an Acarya should incur who does not heed the bidding of the Samgha. If he says 1t should be exclusion from the Samgha, let him be told it is a fitting punishment. When this took place. Bhadrabanu said to the two minis, "Let the Noble Samgha not do so. However, let it do this. May - 6

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the Revered Samgha be gracious and send learned students to whom, when it is convenient (1.e., in the intervals during my performance of the Mahaprana), I will recite seven lectures to them every day." The Samgha agreed and sent to Bhadrabanu five hundred munis, headed by St hulabhadra. Of the group, only Sthulabhadra was able to keep up with Bhadrabahu to the completion of the Mahaprana and was able to learn the first ten Purvas. Subsequently, having reason to consider Sthulabhadra unworthy, Bhadrabanu discontinued his lectures, even though he begged his forgiveness. He finally relented and said he would instruct Sthulabhadra in the remaining Purvas, with the provision that these (the last four Purvas) cannot be taught by him to anyone. Sthulabhadra assumed the leadership of the Samgha after Bhadrabanu's death." In the matter of the dearth of Jain archaeological remains we can quote the historian, Vincent A. Smith , who, writing in 1915, noted: In olden days the creed of Manavira was far more widely diffused than it is now. In the 7th century A.D., for instance, the creed had numerous followers in Valsali (north of Patna) and in eastern Bengal, localities where its adherents are now extremely few. I have myself seen abundant evidences of the former prevalence of Jainism in Bundelkhand during the the mediaeval period especially in the 11th-12th centuries. Jain images in the country are numerous in places where a Jaina is now never seen. (7) - 7

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A contemporary scholar, Luciano Petech, suggests in his Medieval History of Nepal (p. 195] that the Sulanki (also spelled SurakI) family of the principality of Sikharapur I (Pharping), fourteenth to sixteenth centuries A.D., was connected with the Solanki dynasty of Gujarat several of whose kings were either Jains or influenced by them. He further suggests that the Pharping family had migrated from that area. A Book of Omens noted on page 38 in his Art of Nepal by Pratipaditya Pal contains an interesting reference to a "Jain mendicant." 18Y Sylvain Levi in his History of Nepal, Pt. I, (9) describes an inscription which he found at Kathmandu written on the pedestal of a statue which has disappeared and replaced by another image. The gist of his translation reads: "In the year 402, while the king Mana deva governed the earth properly...the chief of a company of merchants, Guhamitra, erected with devotion a holy Divakara under the name of Indra. He assigned for revenue) a field in the locality of Yathagumpad sum(?), (valued) at a hundred (panas) and land to the size of a pindaka." Levi, I should note considered the composite divinity, 1.e., Divakara-Indra, erected and worshipped by Guhamitra puzzlingly. syncretic. (10) Again we turn to Jain sources for its solution. Acarya Ravisena, the author of the Padma Purana, c. 678 A.D., refers to himself as the granddisciple of Arhatmund, the disciple of Divakara whose preceptor was the earliest guru, Indra. (11) The inscription can now be interpreted: Guhamitra, the head of a sartha, a Jain, erected the image to the Ur - 8

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guru, Indra, whose disciple was Divakara and that he, Guhamitra, had donated a portion of land in Yathagumpadsum (?), the yield of which was for the maintenance of the image and its attendant shrine. #### Perhaps this beginning will encourage interest in studies into the traditions of groupings in the Newar merchant-castes, e.g., the Shresthas/Sheshyas, for further evidence of Jain presence in Nepal. NOTES 1. Jagdishchandra Jain, Prakrit Narrative Literature, Origin and Growth, pp. 155-56; and Brhatkalpa Sutra 1.50. 2. Moti Chandra, Trade and Trade Routes in Ancient India. Abhinav Publications. New Delhi. 1977. Pp. 50, 77. 3.See, e.g., Ardhakathanaka: Half a Tale by Mukund Lath. Publisher: Rajasthan Prakrit Bharati Sansthan, Jaipur; distributor: Impex India, New Delhi. 1981. On p. 111 Dr. Lath writes "The Nisitha Curni a Jain text written by Jinadas Gani in the 7th century, records that one of the ministers in a king's council of his days was called the 'sresthi'. He was an important businessman, representative of merchants and trading guilds of the state." See, also, pp. 7-8 of this earliest biography of the mid-seventeenth century where the author -9

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describes his Jain father's service in Bengal as a revenue-collector for the diwan, himself a pious Jain. "He had five hundred men serving under him as potdars (read: fotdar] (revenue-collectors), who were all lucky men, busy amas sing great wealth.". 4. Bhayani, Paumacariu, Vol. II, pp. 192 and 224. 5. Asim Kumar Chatterjee, A Comprehensive History of Jainism (up to 1000 A.D.). Firma KLM Private Limited. Calcutta. 1978, and Buddha Prakash, The Genesis of the Digambara-Svetambara Split,'in Mahavira and His Teachings, Bhagavan mahavira 2500th Nirvana Mahotsava Samiti, Bombay, 1977, P. 272, fn.4: [4. tammi ya kale barasavariso dukkalo uvatthi samjataito ya samuddatire. acchetta punaravi padaliputte milita annassa uddeso annassa khamdam evam samghalitenhim tehim ekkarasa amgani samghatitani ditthivado natthi nepalavattani bhayavam bhaddabahus sami acchati codda sa puvvi 6. Sthaviravali Charita or Parisishtaparvan. Being an Appendix of the Trishashtigalaka Purusha Charita by Hemachandra. Edited by Hermann Jacobi, Ph. D., Published for the Bibliotheca Indica. Calcutta: Printed at the Baptist Mission Press and published by the Asiatic Society. 1891.)) 7. Modern Review, 1915, pp. 519-22.) 8. Pratipaditya Nepal, The Art of Nepal. Los Angeles County Museum of Art in association with University of California Press, Berkeley, Los - 10 -

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Angeles, and London. 1985. Among i nauspicious symbols listed in the caption to the illustration are "... owl, rooster, donkey, deer, naked Jain mendicant, alligator, snake, and Saiva Kapalika." 9. Sylvain Levi: The History of Nepal. Part. I. Edited and translated by Theodore Riccardi, Jr. Kailash: A Journal of Himalayan Studies, Vol. III, No. 1, 1975. P.46 f. 10. Levi's reading of the inscription is as follows: . 1. (samvalt 400 2 (11) rajnan crI manadevasaya samyak palayato mahim (1) asadhacuklasya tithau pancadacyam cubhartthina (1) 2. vanijan sart thavanena Guhamitrena bhaktitan (1) samsthapito tra bhagavan Indro nama di vakaran (2) ksetram yathagumpadcum-pradece 3. fatasya bhumih pingaka mani ca Gnoli and Vajracarya are in general agreement with the translation. Vajracarya has variants in his reading of the text. (See Licchavikalaka Abhilekha.- By Dhanavajra Vajracarya. Nepal ra Esyal I Adhyayan Samsthan. Tribhuvan Visvavidyalaya. Kalamand I nepal. 11. A. K. Chatterjee, A Comprebensive History of Jainism, Vol.I. Firma KLM Private Limited. Calcutta. 1978. P.300.G