Jainism in North India

SR No.: 011067
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Chimanlal J Shah
Publisher: Longmans Green and Compny London
Publication Year: 1932
Total Pages: 66
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 3 MB

Page 228

JAINISM IN KALINGA-DESA The learned author of Orissa and her Remains says about it that " Jainism was so deeply rooted in that we find traces of it as late as the 16th century A.D. Pratap Rudra Deva, the king of Orissa of the Surya Vamsa dynasty, had a great leaning towards Jainismn." Before we pass on to the next line we may merely pote that there are good grounds to infer from the inscription that imageworship was prevalent among the Jainas so early as the beginning of the fifth century BC. The question of image-worship we shall deal with in detail in the latter part of this thesis. In taking note of this incident in the inscription Mr Jayaswal makes three important inferences, which are as follows. "(1) that Nanda was a Jaina, and (2) that Jainism was introduced in Orissa very early, probably just after Mahavira or in his time (the Jaina tradition mentions his visit to Orissa and line 14th of the inscription implies that Kumari Hill (Udayagiri) was the place where religion had been preached and promulgated). It also proves (3) that to have Jaina images about or rather before 450 BC means that the date of Mahavira-Nirvana must be what we get from the various Jamna chronological data read with the Puranic and Pali materials which all harmonise in fixing it to be 545 B.C. (J.B.OR.S., i, 99-105)." 3 All the three inferences have been mostly dealt with by us. We now take the following line. This has also a political event to note-namely, the year of his great victory was marked with the pouring in of riches from the extreme south In the beginning It tells us that Kharavela built excellent towers with carved interiors, and that "he the capable one" caused to be brought into Kalinga wonderful and marvellous elephant-ships with choice horses, rubies and numerous jewel pearls from the king of the Pandya country (in the extreme south opposite Ceylon) There is no mention here of an invasion over the Pandya country by the Kalinga Emperor. Perhaps looking to the greatness Pratap Rudra Deva, one of the Gajapata kings who ruled from AD 1508, Tcnounced the Jains doctrines "-Long, J.AS.B., Xxvm, Nos I to IV and V, 1850, p 289 Ganguly, op. cit, P 19. JBO.RS, 21, pp 245, 246 The Ceylonese constructed ships expressly for the export of their clephants It seems these were of the class of the elephant-ship" of the inscription तु नठर-लिखिल-घरानिमिहिरानि नोवेमात .. पंडराजा चेदानि सनेकानि मुतमणिरतनामि BORS,1, 401, and u, 933 179