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HISTORY OF JAINA MONACHISM
553 Epigraphs show that this Sangha arose out of the Müla Sangha.341
The antiquity and the spread of this Sangha can be evidenced by the Pahārpur Copper plate dated 159 of the Gupta era (= 478-79 A.D.).342
(a) Anvayas:
(1) Arungala343 (2) Kirtyācārya. 344
(b) Gacchas:
(1) Pulikal345 (2) Sārasvata. 346
(c) Ganas:
(1) Balātkāra347 (2) Dravida348 (3) Eregittur349 (4) Punnāgavřkşamüla.350
Several epigraphs, it may be noted, refer to "the Nandi Sangha in the Dramiļa Sangha.”351 NAVILURA SANGHA :
Navilur rendered into Sanskrit means 'a peacock', and it suggests the origin of this Sangha at a place called Mayūragrāma.352
It is referred to in the Sravaņa Belgoļa inscriptions dated c. 7th cent. A.D. (a) Gana:
(1) Aji gaña353
341. E.C., II, 254; IV, Nāga. 85, of 776 A.D. 342. E.I., XX, pp. 63-64. 343. E.C., V, Ark., 98. 344. JA, XII, p. 11. 345. JA, IX, ii, p. 72. 316. E.C., IV, ii, Nāg. 85. 347. JA., IX, ii, p. 72; VII, i, p. 15. 348. E.C., V, Ark. 98. 349. Ibid., IV, Nāg. 85. 350. 1.A., XII, p. 11; E.I., IV, p. 332. 351. E.C., V, Hassan, 131. 352. Ibid., II, 108, 114: See also, 97, 98, 102, 103, 106, 109, 112, and 114.
353. Ibid., No. 97 of c. 700 A.D. ELLL. DORI.-.70
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