History of Jaina Monachism

SR No.: 001727
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: S B Deo
Publisher: Deccan College Research Institute
Publication Year: 1956
Total Pages: 616
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Principle, & History
File Size: 12 MB

Page 131

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S. B. DEO
From the above records it may be said (i) that a number of sects had arisen among the Jainas in South India in this period.
(ii) That a class of naked ascetics called the Kurcakas was in existence, and
(iii) That the Svetapațas were also in South India.
Over and above this it may be noted that inspite of this exuberance of liberality towards Jainism by some Kadamba kings, they were essentially Brāhmanical. For instance, Mrgeśavarman who gave grants to Jainism, is also referred to as "honouring gods, Brāhmaṇas, priests and the learned; ever making gifts to chief Brāhmaṇas”.415 Inspite of this, as MORAES remarks, "Jainism was really a popular religion in the Kadamba Empire and that there were many people who were worshippers of Jinendra”.416...."Jaina mathas were established in all parts of Karnatak. The inscriptions speak at length about the Jaina monastery at Kuppațūr, and give a short genealogy of the gurus. We learn from the records that queen Malaladevi patronised this institution. At Bhandavapura there was another famous matha. The flourishing city of Beļagāmi also contained a representative Jaina population and there existed a Jaina monastery."417
Coming to the Eastern Cālukyas of Vengi who were a branch of the Cālukyas of Badāmi and who reigned from 624 A.D. onwards418 with Vengi as the seat of their kingdom, we find the following information regarding their attitude towards Jainism:
Reign of Vishnuvardhana I:
- In the Timmāpuram Plates, he is spoken of as a Paramabhāgavata or a great devotee of Vishnu.419
His queen Ayyana Mahādevī, "favoured the Jaina monks of Kavurūri Gana with a shrine called Nadumbivasati at Bejavāda, i.e. Bezwāda". 420
Inspite of these instances, it is not possible to dogmatise about the exclusive religious affinities of this king and his queen, for the Indian kings have been known to be patrons of several sects at one and the same time.
415. 1. A., VII, p. 38. 416. Op. cit., p. 35. 417. Ibid., pp. 252-53. 418. VENKATARAMANAYYA, The Eastern Calukyas of Vengi, (ECV) p. 57. 419. E.I., IX, p. 317. 420. ECV., p. 63.