Comprehensive History Of Jainism

SR No.: 022803
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Aseem Kumar Chatterjee
Publisher: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt Ltd
Publication Year: 2000
Total Pages: 360
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 28 MB

Page 163

JAINISM IN NORTH INDIA (AD 600-1000)
137
the original image, before restoration, had been set up by certain members of the gosthi, whose names are enumerated.
The second part of this inscription, which is an independent record, was engraved earlier. Here one Balabhadra appears as the guru of Vidagdha. It records that Vidagdha had erected a caityagyha for his guru Balabhadra and gave certain endowments in the year 973. Some interesting details regarding the nature of the grant by Vidagdha are given in this part of the record. These details are extremely important for students of economic history.25 'Two-thirds of these proceeds were to go to the Jina (Arhat) and a third to Balabhadra as vidyādhana, i.e., fees for imparting knowledge. The closing verse of the second half expresses the wish that these en dowments may be enjoyed by the spiritual progeny of Keśavasūri.
The inscription discussed above, 26 not only discloses the names of a number of Jaina saints who lived in the tenth century ad in western Rajasthan, but also a number of royal personages of this Rāșțrakūta branch who actively helped the Jaina religion. The Jaina poet-saint Suryācārya, the author of the first part of the inscription, was certainly a very accomplished man of letters, as is evident from the language of this inscription. These Rāstraküța kings were not only sincere patrons of Jainism but also successful military generals. It is also evident from the inscription that the king Vidagdha, who flourished in the first quarter of the tenth century, had two Jaina preceptors, Balabhadra and Vasudeva, in honour of whoin he built two Jaina temples. His son and successor Mammața also patronized the Jainas, a policy followed by the next king Dhavala, who probably became a Jaina sādhu before his death. The first and the last verse of the first part of the inscription, composed by Sūryācārya, are in praise of the Jina.
Several other Jaina inscriptions from Rajasthan, belonging to the tenth century AD, have been discovered. I should particularly men tion the recently discovereda7 epigraph from Rajogarh (Alwar district) which gives the date vs 979 (AD 923). It discloses the existence of a temple dedicated to śāntinātha, which was built by the Jaina architect Sarvadeva, son of Dedullaka and grandson of Arbhata of the Dharkata family of Purnatallaka. The ancient name of Rajorgarh, according to this inscription, was Rājyapura.2% Another recently discovered inscription comes from Bharatpur district. It gives the year vs 1051 corresponding to AD 994. This inscription, incised on the pedestal of a Jina image, 30 refers to a guru called Śri Sūrasena of