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RELIGION
297
Malatīmādhava ( Act 5 ) of Bhavabhūti, the Kāpālika Aghoraghanța is shown as attempting to sacrifice Málati before the goddess Karala or Camunda. It can also be judged from the Bhavabhūti's statement in Act I of the same text that Śríparvata, a holy mountain in Kurnol district (Madras Presidency) on the Krşnā river, was a famous centre of the Kāpālika cult. The existence of the Kāpālika cult can also be judged from the Mattavila sa-prahasana of the Pallava king Mahendravarman I (7th century A. D.) and the Prabodhacandrodaya of Kşemakírti.. Yuan Chwang also refers to the Kāpālikas as one of the important sects of the time.2 In the copper-plate inscription of Nāgavardhan (7th century A. D. ), the nephew of Pulakesin II, a grant is recorded for the worship of god Kāpāleśvara and the maintenance of the Mahāvratins residing in the temple,* which also proves the existence of the sect of the Kāpālikas during the 7th century A. D.
All the four main sects of Saivism have thus been alluded to in the NC., and frequent references to these sects reveal them to have been the greatest and the most hostile rivals of Jainism during this time.
Vaişnavism
Though less popular than saivism, Vaişpavism was quite flourishing in Northern as well as Southern India. Vaişņavism in the form of Bhāgavatism received a philip under the Gupta rulers during the 3rd and 4th centuries A. D.,* and
1. Vide--Hindiqui, op. cit., pp. 356-57. 2. Watters, op. cit., I, p. 148. 3. Bhandarkar, op. cit., p. 168. The Käpälikas and the other similar
sects like the Kālāmuhas were styled as Mahāvratin ( observers of the great vow), as the greatness of their vow lay in their extraordinary character, Sec--Jagadhara's commentary on Malatimādhava sect, 1); Kathāsaritasāgara, 2. 81; Yašastilaka, 1. 115; Handiqui, op. cit., p.
358. -4. Sircar, D. C., Classical Age, p. 414.
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