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1. DRAVYA SAMGRAHA
AMONG the ancient royal dynasties of India, the Gangas of the West were devoted followers of Jainism. There is a tradition that a Jaina Acharya, named Simhanandi, belonging to the Nandigana, helped Sivamâra, the first king of the Ganga dynasty, to rise to the throne. In one inscription we find a mention of the fact that Sivamâra Konguņivarmâ was the disciple of Simhanandi, and in another that the race of the Gangas prospered through the sage Simhanandi. It is therefore no wonder that we shall find in Jaina works verses to the effect that the Ganga kings worship the feet of Simhanandi or that a dynasty which owed its origin to the help of a Jaina Acharya should be staunch to the Jaina religion. There are records which establish beyond doubt that the kings of the Ganga dynasty were the promoters and protectors of Jainism. Numerous inscriptions, dating from the fourth to the twelfth century A. D., testify to the building of Jaina temples, consecration of Jaina images of worship, hollowing out caves for Jaina ascetics and grants to Jaina Acharyas by the rulers of the Ganga dynasty.
In this dynasty there was a king, named Marasimha II, mentioned in the inscriptions as Dharma-Mahârâjâdhiraja Satyavâkya Konguņivarma Parmânadi Mârasimha. The reign of this king was conspicuous by great and decisive victories over the Cheras, the Cholas, the Pândyas and the Pallavas of the Nolambâdi country. The most notable success of Mårasimha II against his enemies was that against Vajjaladeva, and his most terrible fights were fought at Gonûr and Uchchangi. Faithful to the doctrines of Jainism, this great king, after a glorious reign, abdicated his throne and gave up his life by a three days' fast, in the presence of his spiritual preceptor, the great Ajitasena, at Bânkâpur, in the Dhârwâr district. The epitaph of Mârasimha II is contained in the inscription engraved on the four sides of the base of the pillar known as Kûge Brahmadeva Khambha, near the entrance to the temples on Chandragiri hill, at Śravaņa Belgola (Mysore). Though this inscription is without date, the year of the death of Mârasimha II is inferred from another inscription to be 975 A. D.
Châmunda Râya or Châmunda Raja was the worthy minister of this great king. It is the heroism of this minister that enabled Marasimha II to win his great battles against Vajjala and those fought at Gonur and Uchchangi. In an inscription at Śravaņa Belgola, we have an eulogy of Châmunda Raya in the following terms: *
Châmunda Raja, the sun adorning like a jewel the head of the eastern mountain of the Brahma-ksatra race, the moon increasing by the rays of fame
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