Medieval Jainism

SR No.: 011082
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Bhasker Anand Saletore
Publisher: Karnataka Publishing House
Total Pages: 448
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 27 MB

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MEDIÆVAL JAINISM famous śāntipurāna and Jinākşaramāle in Kannada, and who gave him the biruda of Ubhayakavicakravarti.1
King Krşņa's younger brother was Khostiga, Nityavarşa, who seems to have been also a Jaina by persuasion. King Khottiga came to the throne in A. D. 968 and ruled till A. D. 971. The fact that he was a Jaina is proved by a record found in a ruined temple at Dānavulapāņu, Jammalamadugu tāluka, Cuddapah district, which narrates that king Nityavarşa causcd the pedestal to be made for the bathing ceremony of the god śāntinātha.2
The last prominent name in the Rāşțrakūta House is that of king Indra IV. This expert in the game of polo died by the method of sallekhanā at Śravaņa Belgoļa in A.D. 982. Two inscriptions prove this : one is the Gandhavāraṇa basti inscription at Sravana Belgola and the other is Kāmagandamanahalli stone inscription found in the Sīra tāluka. The former relates the following—That on the date (specified) having observed the vow with a peaceful mind, Indra Rājā praised by the people, acquired all the great power of the king of gods (Indra). The latter inscription records the fact that with an undisturbed mind performing the vows, the world renowned Indra Rājā gained the glory of king of all gods (Indra).3
Evidently the celebrated example set by the Emperor Candragupta Maurya was not forgotten by the Karnātaka monarchs even in the tenth century A.D.
Political events moved with swift rapidity in the last quarter of the tenth century A.D. The reign of king Krşņa III witnessed the expansion of the Rāştrakūta power from North Arcot to Tanjore. But the hegemony of the
1. Kavicarite, 1, pp. 40-41. 2. 331. of 1095; Rangacharya, Top List, I, p. 589. 3. E. C. II, 133, p. 63; E. C. XII, Si. 27, p. 92.