________________
Jain. King Nahapāna was said to have ascended the throne in C.E. 26, and after his defeat at the hands of Gautamiputra Sātakarni, he abdicated the throne and became a Jaina monk.'
The Jaina text Tiloyapannatti, which was originally, written in C.E. 176, reports the above account. According to this next, the first Saka chief, Ksaharāta, waged war on Ujjain in 66 B.C.E., and was a predecessor of Nahapāna. It also potes that Nahapāna was rivaled by the Satavahana king Gautamiputra Satakarni of Paithan. Nahapāna was defeated in the war at Bhrgukaccha by Gautamiputra Satakarni. The Avasyaka and Chrni texts also give some accounts of Nahapāna. Following the defeat at the battle, Nahapāna abdicated the throne and was initiated to Jaina monkhood. Later, he was given the ascetic name of Bhūtabali. The later Sakas - Gasomatika and Castana - who were in the service of Nahapāna. again rose to power in Ujjaini. Dr. T.V.G. Sastri, who discovered Saka chiefs' names from Jaina archaeological site, Vaddamānu in Andhara Predesh, has assigned the discovery to the times of Nahapāna. Further, he has noted that the inscription about Dhamuti and his family at Vaddamānu clearly indicates that Dhamuti was a resident of Vaddamānu, and the name, according to Jaina texts, was that of the father of Castana. The finds from Vaddamānu thus corroborate the royal origin of Ācārya Bhūtabali, the Southern Jaina Cowicil of Mahimõnagari, and the composition of the Satkhandāgama
Accordingly, the Jaina Council of Southern Monks at Mahimānagari on the river bank of Krishnavenā was convened in 66 C.E. by Arhadbali.'5 This has been supported and confirmed by the recent archaeological discovery of a Brāmhi inscription of about First C.E. found in one of the caves at Akkanna - Māddanna in the Bezawāda area of Andhra statel This group consequently produced the procanonical work known as the Satkhandāgama. It was a work of two Jainaācāryas - Puspadanta and Bhūtabali. The work was completed between the years 66 - 75 C.E." Its Hindi edition with commentory Dhavata has been published in 16 Volumes, 2. The Satkhandagama (Scripture in Six Parts)
This post - canonical Prākrit text of the Jainas system is a work clearly cherished by the Digambaras. The name of the text not only referenced in many texts but also appears in the Bijolia lithic record of the Chūhamāna King Somesvara (CE 1169) of Rajashtan. The word Satkhandāgama has been mentioned in this record in verse 41, and according to Dr. Gopal Krishna Sharma, the term Satkhandagama has been used to refer to the Agams. The Jaina Saint Dharasena (circa 156 C.E.) taught it to Puspadanata and Bhūtabali and it was they who committed it to writing between the years
Arhat Vacana, 14(4), 2002
53
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
