Page Text
________________
JAINISM IN NORTH INDIA
27
Brāhmaṇical religion, because of his hatred for bloody sacrifices, performed by orthodox Brāhmaṇas. He started patronising the Jains and neglecting the Brāhmaṇical rites. An absurd story is told in this connexion ; that Purāņa further asserts that afterwards, Kumārapāla once more embraced Brāhmaṇical faith and began patronising the orthodox Brāhmaṇas. It appears that this story of Kumārapāla's renunciation of Brāhmaṇical faith, and his readmission to that religion, was added to this section of the Skanda Purāņa, some time after the demise of that king, and probably during the very reign of Ajayapāla, a sworn enemy of the Jains, during whose time the tree of the Vedic religion' started growing again, to quote, once more, the words of Sridhara. The very fact that the remains of the Jain Kumārapāla were immersed in the Ganges by an orthodox Brāhmana, also indirectly shows that there was some sort of religious revolution after the death of that king. The Jains once more, became vulnerable after the death of that intellectual giant viz. Hemacandra, whose Vitarāgastotra188 is actually referred to in a passage184 of that Purâņa, mentioned above. There is reason to suppose that Hemacandra and his disciples were actively engaged in the politics of the kingdom, during the later period of Kumārapāla's rule.186 They were against Ajayapāla's nomination, as the successor of Kumāra pāla, This explains why he gradually became anti-Jain. He was however murdered after a reign of only three years in 1175 A.D. 186 It is significant to note, that although, a few dated Jain manuscripts of his reign are known, he is not mentioned by name there.187 We should also note, that Ajayapāla, killed another Jain gentleman, called Amrabhata, the son of Udayana, a minister during Kumārapāla's time. 188
After Ajayapāla, his son Mūlarāja Il ruled for two years. We have at least one Jain work, which was definitely written during his reign. The Digambara writer Śricandra wrote his Apabhamsa work, called the Kathākosa, during the
| SR No. | 002003 |
| Book Title | Comprehensive History of Jainism Volume II |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Aseem Kumar Chaterjee |
| Publisher | Firma KLM Pvt Ltd |
| Publication Year | 1984 |
| Total Pages | 414 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English, History, & Religion |
| File Size | 19 MB |