Jain Journal 1999 01

SR No.: 520133
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication
Publication Year: 1999
Total Pages: 42
Language: English
Classification: Magazine, India_Jain Journal, & India
File Size: 3 MB

Page 39

HAMPANA: STATUS OF WOMEN IN JAINISM IN KARNATAKA
the lotus feet of Jina; her ears listening nothing but the chanting from the holy scripture; her lips moving only to utter pañca-pada, the reverent salutation to the five holy beings. Thus she had all her five senses concentrated on contemplation. She had no ill will against anybody; adopted the prescribed posture of reclining; by thought, word and deed she had lost all terrestrial interests of love or hatred to her kith and kin. Who on earth will not praise Jakkalāmbā, the best among womankind?
Those who were present to see the mortals of Jakkāmbikā consigned to the fire said in one voice: At present, Bharata-kṣetra, our earth, is in avasarpini, a state of regressive half-cycle with the cessation of the realm of enjoyment (bhoga-bhūmi) and the extremely unhappy period (pañca-makāla or atidussama); but the birth of the best of womanhood like Jakkalamba, the progressive period (ut-sarpini) will increase step by step. Like the river washing the dirt with its flow, Jakkale, the chaste woman washed off the bondages and the creeper of her immaculate fame spread in all directions.
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Mallavve-gāvundi, younger sister of Jakkale also followed the foot prints of her elder sister and accepted the rite of sallekhanā. Seeing the fate of both of his daughters, Muddaiah, the worthy father and a samanta, a governor, also preferred death while in meditation and willingly surrendered to the inevitable death.
The incognito author of the inscription, evidently a Jain by faith, is well-versed in the art of poesy and connoisseur in Kannada and Sanskrit languages.
5. Rāņi-Cennabhairādevī (C.E. 1532-69)
During the reign of Sadasivaraya, perhaps, Cennabhaira-devi, one of the greatest of women rulers of India, mahāmaṇḍalesvara-Amma, the boon daughter (Vara-Kumari) of Bhairādevi-Amma and a grand daughter of Vira-devi, deserves in extenso introduction. She ruled the principality of Hāḍuvalli-rājya (a Sanskritized form of this Kannada place name being Sangitapura) as an able administrator for more than two and a half decades. Though there are instances of some queens ruling major or minor kingdoms, they are the examples of either ruling for a very brief period or for the interregnum period. But as an exception Rāņi ('the queen') Cenna-bhairādevi-Amma successfully controlled the affairs of the state; Cenna means pleasing, Bhairadevi is a cognomen of goddess Padmavati, Amma means mother, but the word is also used as a term of respect while addressing a woman and it is added as a