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A COMPREHENSIVE HISTORY OF JAINISM
Probably the utsava referred to in the Hāthigumphā inscription was the well-known Indrotsava first started by Khāravela's celebrated predecessor.
The inscription of Khāravela is the first complete historical record of the achievements of a king of ancient India. We do not get much of an idea about Aśoka's real career (beyond his missionary activities) from his inscriptions. Other pre-Christian inscriptions are either too brief or too concerned with some particular religious purpose. This inscription however gives us a very lucid and accurate account of this exceedingly interesting monarch. The most significant thing about him is that in spite of being a Jaina and apparently a believer in the doctrine of ahimsā, he was a very successful military conqueror. There is however no reference to the killing of any opponent. Most of his adversaries were only forced to submit (cf. the words pādau vandāpayati). We may recall here Aśoka's killing of thousands of soldiers of Kalinga on the battlefield; the war between Magadha and Kalinga was resumed in Khāravela's time, but this time the other side was victorious. Though apparently the bhikṣurājā Khāravela did not indulge in any senseless killing. He could have paid Magadha back in her own coin, but as a dharmarājā and a worthy descendant of Rājarşi Vasu, he treated his opponents with tolerance and justice.
It is a matter of great regret that so far we have not been able to trace any reference to this celebrated Jaina king in any literary text of the Jainas. Not all the Jaina manuscripts have however been pre served in the Bhāņdāras that have been published. With the discovery of more texts, probably some new light will be thrown on this problem. Another reason why Khāravela was later forgotten is that Jainism steadily lost popularity in Orissa in the post-Christian period.
A few other inscriptions in the Udayagiri and Khandagiri caves disclose the names of a few Jaina devotees. 43 No. 1346 of Lüders' List belonging to the Mañcapurigumphā records the establishment of a cave (lena) in honour of Arahamta by Khāravela's chief queen (agamahisi) who was a duaghter of Rajan Lālaka, the great grandson (popota) "1 of Hathisiha. There is little doubt that Lālaka, though the father-in-law of Khāravela, was a subordinate ally of his son-inlaw. It is not clear why instead of mentioning either the father or grandfather of Lālaka, the inscription refers only to his great-grandfather. It is probable that Hastisiṁha, who probably flourished in
