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

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A COMPREHENSIVE HISTORY OF JAINISM
The next king Indra III also had some fascination for the Jaina religion. We have a number of Jaina inscriptions of his reign. We must first refer to the well-known Dänavulapadu pillar inscription, discovered from Jammalmadugu tāluk of Cuddapah 144 district, A.P. The record is not dated and is partly in Sanskrit and partly Kanarese The first part of if refers to the military prowess of Śrīvijaya, who was a dandanāyaka (general) of king Indra III. The second part opens with an invocatory verse which proclaims glory to the prosperous doctrine of the Jina. It appears from the inscription that Srivijaya voluntarily resigned this world and became a Jaina ascetic in order to attain eternal bliss. This general Srivijaya is otherwise unknown. From the same place another Jaina inscription"45 of a single Sanskrit verse mentioning Nityavarsa or Indra III has been discovered. Two other Srivijayas are known to Kanarese literature, both of whom flourished long before this Śrīvijaya and both were men of letters.'16 This Śrīvijaya too, it is interesting to note, is described in this epigraph as anupamakavi, meaning an accomplished poet. The astavidha karma, referred to in this inscription, consists of jñānāvaraṇīya, darśanāvaraṇīya, vedanīya, mohanīya, āyusya, nāma, gotra, and antarāya. This Śrīvijaya, it is evident from the inscription, was a very important general of Indra III and was one of the pillars of the Rāstrakūta empire.
Another Jaina inscription"47 of the reign of Indra III, called Hatti Mattur stone inscription, has been discovered from Karajgi tāluk of Dharwar district, Karnataka. This is dated in the Saka 838, corresponding to AD 916. It records the grant of a village called Vutavura by the Mahāsāmanta Leņdeyarasa. Later the Jaina establishment here was converted into a Saiva temple, as is evident from the second part of the record, which was inscribed a few centuries thereafter.
In the last chapter I discussed an important Jaina inscription of Indra III found in Nāsik district. I should also mention in this connection an inscription from Belgaum district, Karnataka, which states that a Jaina saint called Neminātha, the preceptor of Manicandra, was like a moon in the ocean, which was the dynasty of the Rāstrakūtas.148 Evidently this Jaina monk was held in the highest esteem by the Rāstrakūța kings of his time. The inscription has been assigned to c. AD 900.
For the reign of Govinda IV we have two Jaina inscriptions119 dated Śaka 847 or ad 925 and Śaka 854 or AD 932, both of which were