Hathigumpha Inscription of Kharavela and Bhabru Edict of Asoka

Author(s): Shashi Kant
Publisher: D K Print World

Page 91

Jainism
The significance which the Bhabru Edict of Asoka has for Buddhism, the Hāthigumphā Inscription of Khāravela has for Jainism, perhaps even more since it seems to preserve and confirm traditions and does not merely serve to demostrate that its author was a follower of Jainism.
The Pañca-namaskāra, or the Five-fold Obeisance, hymn of the Jains reads:
Namo Arahaṁtānam, Ņamo Siddhānam, Ņamo Āiriyānam,
Namo Uvajjhāyāṇam, Ņamo loe savva Sāhūņam. Its antiquity is lost into oblivion. It is found in the most ancient Jain literature available, and appears to have had the same significance for the Jains as 'Buddham saranam gacchämi, Dhammam saranam gacchāmi, Samgham saranam gacchāmi' has had for the Buddhists. Our inscription begins with Namo Arahaṁtānam Namo sava Sidhānam and serves as the earliest preserved record for this hymn in its traditional form.
1.
Arahaṁta (who has cast off transmigration), siddha (the Released, i.e., the perfect soul in the stage after nirvana), Acārya (master of spiritual knowledge), upadhyāya (teacher of spiritual knowledge) and sådhu (ascetic), are recognised as deserving supreme veneration (paramesthi). Among the Jains, arahaṁta is not the common term for ascetics. The ascetics are called samana (sramana), sāhū (sādhu), or, muni. It is amply clear from this inscription and the inscriptions in the nearby caves that shrines were built in the honour of the Arahamta, while cave-dwellings were excavated for the use of the Sramanas. Also ref. fn. 1 on p. 50 supra.