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 73

JAINISM IN MATHURĀ
47
who was a sārthavāha but was at the same time a Brāhmaṇa. In the Buddhist canon we have at least fifty cases of a Brāhmaṇa adopting the profession of much lower classes. In the Anguttara Nikāya2 there is reference to a Brāhmana called Sangåvara who was a celebrated mason and built many houses at Vaiśālī.58
The fragmentary inscription54 recording the dedication by Pūsā, the wife of Puphaka Mogaliputta, is also a pre-Kuşāņa record according to Lüders,55 but a more important pre-Kuşāņa inscription is that which mentions a Jaina monk called Jayasena5h and his female disciple (āṁtevāsinī) Dharmaghoṣā. It further records the gift of a temple (pāsāda) by that lady. An inscription57 found from Kankāli Tila mentions, according to Bühler, a Sravikā called Lahastini. It records the dedication of an arch (torana). Lüders,58 is, however, is of the opinion that lahastini here is not a proper name. Another inscription, which appears to be a pre-Kuşāņa record, is that which refers to the setting up of a tablet of homage (āyāgapata) by one Acalā, the daughter-in-law of Bhadrayaśas and wife of Bhadranadi. The gift of another āyāgapata is recorded in an inscription So by a woman who is described as the wife of one Māthuraka (inhabitant of Mathurā).
Before turning our attention to the Jaina inscriptions of the Kuşāņa period, we must take note of the last important pre-Kuşāņa record that mentions Bhagavat Nemesa. There is little doubt, and this is pointed out by Bühler, that the god Nemesa who is sculptured as a goat-headed deity here is Hariņegamesī of the Jaina canonical texts. This god, as we learn from the Kalpasūtra, transferred the embryo of Mahāvīra from the womb of Devānandā to that of Trišala. The story of the transfer of embryo virtually replicated by the Jaina artist of Mathurā.62 The god Hariņegamesī is not only mentioned in the Kalpasūtra but also in such works as the Antagadadasão,63 Bhagavatī,64 etc. This god is surely identical to Kārttikeya who is also known by the name Naigameya.65 Bühler points out that four mutilated statues or statuettes of the Mathurā museum refer to the same legend as told in the Kalpasūtra.66 Two of these figures are goatheaded males and two are females, each holding an infant in a dish.67 This infant is no other than the Lord Mahāvīra himself.
A large number of Jaina inscriptions of the Kuşāna period found in Mathurā are dated. The earliest of these is that dated to the year 4 corresponding to AD 82 which falls within the reign of the great Kuşāna king Kaniska. It mentions a monk called Pusyamitra, and