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136
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
shows that the first alternative is Learer the correct date. Since a disciple of Mallavadin's disciple is the recipient of a grant issued in 821 A.D. it is obvious that Mallavadin could not have flourished in the latter half of the 10th century A.D.; he must be placed in the last quarter of the 8th century A.D. This conclusion will be untenable if we accept Dr. Vidyabhushana's view that Dharmōttaracharya, on whose work Mallavädin wrote his commentary, flourished in c. 847 A.D. But this view itself is wrong, since it is based upon an unproved assumption that king Vanapala was ruling in Bengal in c. 847 A.D.
Mallavadin and his disciples belonged to the Sena-sangha, which is described as a branch of the Mula-sangha which constituted the main Digambara Church. According to the Pattavalis, the Mulasangha branched off into three other sub-sections known as Deva-sangha, Nandi-sangha and Sena-sangha sometime in the 1st century A.D. It is with reference to this division into four sections of the main Digambara branch that Mula-sangha is called chatushtaya in our grant. The information of the Patavalis is thus confirmed by epigraphical evidence. There is at present a Jain temple at Nausari called the Parsvanatha temple with two Mathas attached to it, one for the male and the other for the female ascetics. The present temple belongs to the Svētāmbara sect and its buildings, which are being renovated at present, are said, according to local tradition, to have been built by Vastupala in the 13th century A.D. Vastupala may have quite possibly provided buildings to a Sangha that was already flourishing in the locality; in that case the antiquity of the Svētāmbara Jain establishment may antedate the buildings in which it is now located. The Mula-sangha establishment of Nausārī to which Karkka gave the present grant was most probably different from the present Jain temple since it belonged to the Digambara church, which seems to have disappeared in subsequent centuries.
[VOL. XXI
After the syllable om the record opens with a homage to the gospel of Jinendra in v. 1. The next 39 verses give the Rashtrakuta genealogy of the main branch up to Amoghavarsha I and of the Gujarat branch up to Karkka Suvarnavarsha. Since most of these verses recur in other published Rashtrakuța records it is unnecessary to give an abstract of their contents here. Attention will, therefore, be drawn only to a few salient points. The genealogy begins with Govinda I, the names of his father and grandfather Indra Prichchhakarāja and Dantivarman respectively, which are given in the Konnur inscription, Sanjan copper-plates of Amōghavarsha I and the Dasavatara cave record do not figure in this grant. The name of Dantidurga is not passed over in this record, nor is the credit of the overthrow of the Chalukyas given to Krishna I in preference to Dantidurga as is done in the Wani-Dindori and Radhanpur plates of Govinda III, Baroda plates of the present donor and Kapadvanj plates of Krishna II. The bravery of the next ruler Krishna I is described in the next 7 verses (12-18), but the description is all conventional; his wars with the Gangas and the Eastern Chalukyas are not even referred to, the only historical event mentioned is the overthrow of Rahappa. The record, however, does not give any clue to the identification of this opponent The successor of Krishna I, Govinda II, is not passed over as is done in the Baroda plates of the present donor, Kapadvanj plates of Krishna II and the Bagumra plates of Indra III, but the circumstances of his overthrow by his younger brother are not mentioned. The next 6 verses (20-25) describe the career of Dhruva. All these verses, with the exception of v. 25, are already known to us and contain only conventional eulogy. V. 25, however, which, so far as I am aware, does not occur in any other records so far published, is
1 Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, Vol. VII, p. 474.
Ante, Vol. XVIII, p. 235.
Ind. Ant., Vol. XI, p. 157.
Ind. Ant., Vol. XII, p. 158.
J. B. B. K. A. S., Vol. XVIII, p. 257.
2 Ante, Vol. VI, p. 29.
A. S. W. I., Vol. V. p. 87. Ante, Vol. VI, p. 242. Ante, Vol. 1, p. 53.
