Tulsi Prajna 1996 10

SR No.: 524589
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Parmeshwar Solanki
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati
Publication Year: 1996
Total Pages: 166
Language: Hindi
Classification: Magazine, India_Tulsi Prajna, & India
File Size: 7 MB

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virtues not only of loftiness, but also of beauty and supernatural power. This unique feature of the image is further described in the inscription cited below.
“When an image is very lofty, it may not have beauty; when possessed of loftiness and real beauty, it may not bave supernatural power : loftiness, real beauty and mighty supernatural power being all united in it, how worthy of worship in the world is the glorious form, comparable to itself, of advar Jina.".
As in South India, a series of Jaina centres and holy spots have also thrived in North India. One such is Girnar in Kathiawar. On this sacred hill arose shrines dedicated to the eminent Jaina deities and details about these foundations are recorded in inscriptions. Two brothers afgun and aware, of the smart family, who were ministers of the Chalukya king aroun, bave immortalised their names by their religious zeal and munificent endowments for the promotion of the Jaina faith at forcar and other holy places. A verse in a Sanskrit epigraph of 1230. A.D. at Girnar, while recounting the memorable services of agera, praises his generosity in the following terms. 16
"After king witor has passed away piercing through the sun and the illustrious Munja has acquired the supremacy of Heaven, here stands alone solitary aegara intent upon wiping out the flow of tears of the poor and the needy".
Soon after the establishment of the great Vijayanagara empire, Jainism which was reduced to a faith of the minority at this time was threatened by a crisis. This was, however, averted by the foresighted and statesmanly action of the king from I. who safeguarded the interests of its adherents and assured them a place of honour and status of equality among his subjects 16
Under the benign patronage of the Vijayanagara rulers. Jainism raised its head once again. Jaina temples and institutions were erected in the city of Vijayanagara, the very heart of the empire. One such shrine was dedicated to the rare deity Kuathu, the seveniccnth ant. This event is related in an inscription at Vijayayanagara,17 dated 1385 A.D. through the following charming phrases.
“There is a city named Vijaya, which is resplendent with wonderful jewels, and wbich exbibits the spectacle of an unexpected moonshine by y the multitude of its whitewashed palaces. There the girls play on roads paved with precious stones, stopping by embankments of pearl-sand and the water poured out at donations.