Tulsi Prajna 1975 07

SR No.: 524503
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Mahavir Gelada
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati
Publication Year: 1975
Total Pages: 116
Language: Hindi
Classification: Magazine, India_Tulsi Prajna, & India
File Size: 7 MB

Page 64

dhana of the Mallas, 14 and Aja kalāpa of Pātali or Pāvā 15.
It is, however, extremely dou. btful whether all the ceiyas and cetiyas or ayatanas of the Jain and Buddhist texts were dedicated to the Yakşas. Let us first take up the case of the famous Bahuputta shrine situated in the northern part of Vaišāli and which as we have already noted, was the only shrine of ancient India to be mentioned clearly in both the Ardha-māgadhi and Päli canons. There is reason to believe that this shrine was named after the goddess Bahuputtiyā, whose story is told so beautifully and humo. urously in the Upānga text the Nirayavalikā. We learn from the 4th Adhyayana of that Jain text that the goddess (and not a female Yakşa ) Bahuputtiyā was intimately connected with the welfare of children. We however cannot be sure on this point since another Bahuputtiyā is mentioned in the Bhagavati 16, Sthanónga17 and Nåyådhammakahão 18 as the wife of Yakşa Purnabhadra. The well-known Gotamaka shrine of the same city, was in all probability, not a Yakşa temple. We invite, in this connexion, the attention of readers to a few slokas of the Sabhāparvan 19 of the Mahābharata where we come across the name of one Gautamauka temple of Rājagrha which according to these verses was named after the
Rși Gautama. The Sanskrit word gautamauka is exactly the same as the Pāli gotamaka. Since the temple of Gautamauka at Rājagrha was dedicated to Rşi Gautama, it is reasonable to infer that the shrine of the same name situated at Vaişāli was also named after that Vedic Rşi. It is also interesting to note that a sect called Gotama-Goyama is mentioned both in the Anuyogadvāra? 0 a Jain canonical text, and the Anguttara 21 a Pāli work. According to Hemacandra 22, the commentator of Anuyogodvāra, the mendicants belonging to that school, earned their livelihood by exhibiting young bulls, painted and decorated as well as by performing tricks. The worship of ancient Rşis was not an uncommon thing in ancient India. We have the well known instance of Agastya worship. A shrine called Kámamahavana is mentioned in several Jain texts including the Antagadadasão 2 3 and Bhagavati 24 as situated at Vārāṇasī. It can, by no stretch of imagination, be called a Yakşa shrine. It was surely dedicated to the Hindu god of love Kamadeva, who was one of the most popular gods of ancient India and whose festivals were regularly held in almost all important cities of India during spring time. The Anga. mandira 25 shrine of Campā, connected with the activities of
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