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A COMPREHENSIVE HISTORY OF JAINISM
Simhapura) was the birthplace of Śreyāmsa, the eleventh Tīrthamkara. A few Jaina scholars identify Sīhapura of the Jaina canon with Simhapuri near Banāras. But it is more likely that Simhapura of Punjab is identical with the Sīhapura of the Jaina texts. Let us not forget that the Jainas deliberately selected cities at hoary antiquity as the birthplaces of those Tīrthamkaras who never existed in reality. Simhapura was a town of great antiquity, for we find it mentioned in connection with Arjuna's digvijaya in the Mahābhāratalo where it appears after the Trigartas, a well-known Punjab tribe. That Jainism reached Punjab by the third century BC, is also indirectly testified to by the fact that the Therāvalī refers to the Audambarikā śäkhā which originated from Rohana in the third century BC. This sākhā was evidently linked with the Audambaras, a well-known Punjab tribe. It is therefore, permissible to identify Simhapura of Yuan Chwang and the Mahābhārata with Sihapura of the Jaina texts.
Stein was successful in discovering a great number of Jaina antiquities from Simhapura. He is of the opinion that the Jaina sculp tures of Simhapura are better executed than those of Ellora and Ankai. He further informs us that even at the time of his visit, this place was regarded as a sacred site by the Jainas. The Varāngacarita, 62 a work of the seventh century AD, refers to Simhapura as sacred to Sreyāṁsa.
Let us once more turn our attention to western India. We have already observed that by the third century BC, Jainism became more or less popular in Gujarat. A stone inscriptison6% of the second century AD of one of the grandsons of Jayadāman, the Saka satrap, is definitely a Jaina record for it contains the significant word kevalainana. This inscription was discovered at Junagarh and also refers to the town of Girinagara, i.e., Girnar, which according to the Nāyādhammakahāo and Kalpasūtra was associated with Neminātha. I have already noted that Girnar was regarded as a sacred hill by the Jainas from a much earlier period. It has been suggested that the inscription actually refers to the Samadhimarana of the Digambara Jaina saint Dharasena, the original author of the Digambara canon, who according to the tradition resided at Candragumphā of Girnar whence the inscription was discovered. This is however pure conjecture and can be dismissed outright. In any case, the inscription indicates that Jainism was introduced in this area in the early centuries of the Christian era, if not earlier.
The Jaina antiquities discovered from Dhank and Bawa Pyara
