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Jainism in Mathurā
amtevāsikini377 or sisyani.378 She was also called sāvikā, 379 i.e., śrāvikā. The nuns were called ayikā 380 also.
Very few Jaina inscriptions belonging to the post-Kusāna period have come to light at Mathurā. Therefore, it is not possible to throw light on the organisation of the Jaina Church in this city after the end of the Kuşāņa period. An inscription of the Gupta period381 seems to indicate that probably the gaņas and their sub-divisions existed during this period also. In the inscriptions of the medieval period the titles ācārya, gaṇin, upadhyāya, sūri and bhattāraka find repeated mention.382 Probably, these titles gained currency in Mathurā also. Two peculiar titles embodied in the Jaina inscriptions are sraddhacara and sraddhacarī. In the inscriptions the sraddhacara is mentioned as the companion of the monk.383 It is reasonable to assume that the sraddhacara was the colleague of the monk, or his disciple. The inscriptions mention the śraddhacarī as the female companion of the nun.384 The sraddhacari must have been a colleague or the disciple of the nun.
Mathurā in Jaina literature
Jaina literature is full of stories and references regarding the state of Jainism in Mathurā. These texts describe Mathurā as a centre of heretical ascetics.385 According to some Jaina texts, Mathurā – also called Uttara Mahurā — was the capital city of Śūrasena country, and this country was acceptable to the
376. EI, II, no. 4. 377. Ibid., no. 21. 378. EI, I, no. 1. 379. EI, II, no. 2. 380. Ibid., no. 21. 381. EI, II, no. XXXIX. 382. HJM, p. 514. 383. EI, I, no. 4. 384. EI, I, no.1; EI, II, no. 11. 385. LDJC, p. 255.
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