Comprehensive History Of Jainism

Author(s): Aseem Kumar Chatterjee
Publisher: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt Ltd

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JAINISM IN MATHURA
on the basis of the testimony of Tibetan historian Taranatha that pre-Mauryan shrines were known by the term devanirmita. The Jaina texts mentioned above record that there was a persistent dispute regarding this particular stupa. The Buddhists, Jainas, and also the Vaiṣṇavas claimed this stupa as their own. It is probable that originally it was either a Brahmanical or a Buddhist shrine, but from the days of the Kuṣāņas it passed into the hands of the Jainas. This ticular stupa is probably represented by the extensive ruins at Kankālī Tīlā and it is also probable that it included Buddhist and Brahmanical objects of worship.
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There are a few Jaina inscriptions130 of year 50, but only one of them is important. I refer to the inscription that records the dedication of an image of Vardhamana by Vijayaśrī, daughter of Bubu, wife of Rajyavasu, mother of Devila, grandmother of Viṣṇubhava. It also mentions a nun called Jinadāsi and a monk named Samadi (?) who belonged to the Vāraṇa gana, Kaniyasata kula, and Samkasiyā śākhā. Among the kulas mentioned in the Theravali, this particular one is cited as Kanahasaha. The Samkasiyā sākhā is also mentioned in this text under the same gana. The two other Jaina inscriptions of year 50 are not so important, although one of them mentions Mahārāja devaputra Huviska. 131
The inscription 132 of year 52 records the dedication of an image by the worker in metal (lohikākāraka) called Śūra, the son of Śramanaka, at the request of Arya Deva, the companion (saḍhacara) of the ganin Arya Manguhasti, the pupil of Arya Ghastuhasti of the Koliya gana, Verā śākhā, and Sṭānikiya kula. The great importance of this inscription lies in the fact that it mentions the monk Manguhasti who is prominently mentioned in early Jaina literature. In the Nandisutra (v. 30), a late cononical text of the Jainas, probably composed around AD 350 the name of this monk is conspicuous. In the Avasyakaniryukti, 133 another early Jaina text, this monk is mentioned as a resident of Mathura which is a clinching evidence that the Arya Manguhasti of this inscription is really the monk mentioned as. Ārya Mangu in these two texts. Incidentally, Mangu is the only monk in early Jaina literature to be mentioned in an inscription of Mathura. The image inscription of year 54 is also very interesting. It records the dedication of an image of Sarasvati by the worker in metal (lohikakāruka) Gova (Gopa), the son of Siha. The monks mentioned in the inscription of year 52 are also mentioned here with the exception of Manguhasti, who is replaced by Maghahasti.