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HISTORY OF JAINA MONACHISM
103 When we come to Kumāragupta (414-55 A.D.) we have, first, the Udayagiri cave inscription 256 of G.E. 106 (= 426 A.D.) which belongs to his reign, and refers to the dedication of an image of Pārśva with "the expanded hoods of a snake and an attendant female divinity," by Sanghala, a disciple of Gośarman of Arya kula. Another inscription from Mathurā speaks clearly of the 'paramabhattārakamāhārājādhiraja rīkumāragupta', and mentions the installation of an image by a lady Śāmādhyā at the instance of a Jaina guru who belonged to the Kottiya gana and Vidyadhari säkhā.257 From these inscriptions we may conclude that "Jainism had many adherents and patrons about this time. It was still lingering in Mathura, but the days of its prosperity were obviously gone."258
Coming to the reign of Skandagupta (455-67 A.D.), we have the famous Kahäum pillar inscription 259 of the Gupta year 140 (= 460-61 A.D.). It tells us that a man named Madra dedicated five images of the ādikartřs or Jinas on a stone pillar in the village of Kakubha in the modern tahsil of Deoriya in the Gorakhapur district. The five images have been identified by PANDIT BHAGVANLAL INDRAJI260 with those of Ādinātha, Santinātha, Neminátha, Pārsvanātha and Mahāvīra. They are all naked standing figures. Besides these "other Jaina sculptures of the period have reached the museums at Mathura, Lucknow and Allahabad, while some might be lying unnoticed throughout the U.P. and C.I., as were those of Kathiawad."261
Besides the Brāhmanical inscriptions of the Guptas, there are a number of others belonging to the different kings of this dynasty, which throw light on the religious toleration of these kings towards Buddhism as well.262 A superb example of this can be had in the Bilsad inscription of Kumāragupta's reign which speaks of the worship of Kärtikeya Mahāsena Swami, while Buddha, Śiva and the Sürya are glorified in the Mankuwar, Karamdande and Mandasor inscriptions respectively.263 Regarding Skandagupta, RAYCHAUDHARI264 remarks that, "The emperor continued the tolerant policy of his forefathers. Himself a Bhāgavata or worshipper of Krshņa-Vishnu,
256. BANERJI, op. cit., p. 106; FLEET, CII, iii, No. LXI, pp. 258: I.A., XI, p. 310. 257. E.I., ii, No. XXXIX, p. 210. 258. DANDEKAR, op. cit., p. 192: Same view by BANERJI, op. cit., p. 102.
259. FLEET, op. cit., iii, pp. 66-7, No. XV; The term Adikartr is used in the sense of a Jina in Kalpasūtra, SBE, xxii, p. 225. See also CUNNINGHAM, ASI, i, pl. XXIX.
260. I.A., X, P. 126. 261. SANKALIA, Jaina Iconography, A Vol. of Ind. and Iranian Studies, pp. 337-338. 262. See, DANDEKAR, op. cit., pp. 190-91. 263 Ibid., p. 100. 264. op. cit., p. 580.
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