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Studies in Jainology. Prakrit
17
OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION OF JAINISM TO KANNADA LANGUAGE AND
LITERATURE
The Samavayanga Sutta tells us that Lord Mahavira preached in the Ardhamāgadhi language : Bhagavam ca nam addhamāgadhic bhāsae dhammamaikkahai.' That is, as carly as c.600 B.C.,Lord Mahavira adopted the principle of teaching the masses in their own language so that this instruction might be lucid and effective.
The same principle was followed by his later disciples in Karnataka. According to the well known South Indian tradition, corroborated by cpigraphic records, archacological remains and literary references, Jainism cntcrcd Karnataka with the migration of the Jaina Sangha from Madhyadeśa as headed by Acarya Bhadrabahu and accompanied by Candragupta Maurya in about 300 B.C. at the time of the great twelve year famine. Śravanabclgola possibly was the first Jaina colony. There the members of the Sangha, whosc language was Prakrit, must have picked up the then Kannada language in due course and the monks and teachers must have gradually started preaching or teaching their religious tenets to their newly obtained followers and others in their own
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