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Shri Mahavir Jain Aradhana Kendra
16
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BUDDHISM IN KASHMIR
Acharya Shri Kailassagarsuri Gyanmandir
The story of Jalauka, as given in the Rajatarangini,' reveals that he supported the Naga and Siva cults of Kashmir and persecuted the Buddhists. The legend of Kṛtyā refers to him as one who persecuted the Buddhists and destroyed the vihāras, except that his heart was softened by the Bodhisattva ideal— the new aspect of Buddhism that had just then emerged. The Hinayana Buddhists are painted in black as they are described as bent on taking revenge for his cruel acts. He built the Krtyāśrama vihara and dedicated it not to Buddha but this sorceress Krtyä. He directed his energies and munificence to the erection of Siva temples and, possibly, it was an attempt to resuscitate Sivaism which had waned in Kashmir owing to the popularity of Buddhism under Aśoka's patronage.
The anti-Buddhistic spirit of Dasaratha may be inferred from his gifts to the Ajivikas and the silence of the Buddhist texts about his existence. Sampadi's disapproval of Aśoka's gifts to the Buddhist Sangha; the Jaina accounts of his activities for the propagation of Jaina faith and the establishment of vihāras for śramanas in non-Aryan countries and Taranātha's discreet silence over the events of his rule indicate also his anti-Buddhistic spirit.
The climax of anti-Buddhistic feelings of Aśoka's successors is narrated in the Divyāvadāna and Aśokāvadāna, in which Pusyamitra is described as wishing to surpass his renowned predecessor Aśoka by undoing the work done by him. He razed the stūpas and vihāras to the ground and put the price of 100 Dināras for the head every Buddhist śramana. We need not go into the question whether Pusyamitra was of Mauryan descent, or a Brahmin general of Bṛhadratha; the fact remains that Aśoka's grandsons and their
3
of
1 Rajat, I, 136, 140-4; see Kṣemendra's Samayamātṛkā, v. 61 rc. Krtyaśrama-vihāra.
2 Raychaudhury, op. cit., p. 239. See also IHQ., 1930, p. 343.
3 Przyluski, p. 301-2; Divya., p. 434; Schiefner, p. 81.
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