History of Jaina Monachism

Author(s): S B Deo
Publisher: Deccan College Research Institute

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HISTORY OF JAINA MONACHISM Bimbisāra was followed by his son Kuniya or Ajāyasattu who was born to Cellaņā. Kūņika has also been frequently referred to as a devotee of Mahāvīra. The Aupapātika gives a graphic description of his visit to Mahāvira's sermon. Regarding this king the Buddhists and the Jainas differ inasmuch as the former discredit him by saying that he murdered his father and then ascended the throne. The Jainas, however, admit that he harassed his father by imprisoning him, but they seem to twist the account and show that Kūņiya repented for it when it was too late because his father, misunderstanding his son's purpose, had already taken poison. 161 The account of the Buddhists, perhaps, hints that this king was not favourable to them, while that of the Jainas, which softens down his behaviour, seems to be the outcome of Kūniya's devotion to their faith.162
Anyway, this king reigned at any important epoch in Indian history, inasmuch as "it was during the reign of Ajātaśatru that both Mahāvīra and Gautama, the great teachers of Jainism and Buddhism respectively, are said to have entered Nirvāņa."163 And, from the Jaina account and Buddhist denunciation of him,164 it appears that his affinities leaned heavily towards Jainism.
The successor of Ajātaśatru was Udāyi. According to the Jaina accounts, this king also was a devout Jaina. He is credited with the building of a Jaina temple at Pāțaliputra.165 That he did not pay merely a lip-sympathy to Jainism is proved by the account which says that he practised fasts after the manner of a Jaina layman. Moreover, the very circumstances of his end which made him face death at the hands of a dethroned prince, who had come with a Jaina ācārya, in the disguise of a Jaina monk, make it evident that the Jaina monks had a free access to his palace without any trouble.166
Tlus these three major kings of the Siśunāga dynasty seem to be the followers of the Jaina faith. Of course, no epigraphical evidence is available
161. Hemacandra, Trişasti, p. 161-164.
162. "Mahāvira survived his hated rival Gosala for 16 years, and probably witnessed the rapid progress of his faith during the reign of Ajātaśatru who seems to have been a supporter of the Jains, if we may infer that gratitude is the motive which leads them to make excuses for the horrible murder of his father, Bimbasära."-CHARPENTIER, CHI, i, p. 163.
163. RAYCHAUDHARI, Pol. Hist. of Anc. Ind., p. 215.
164. Ajātaśatru gives orders for the killing of the Buddha at the instance of Devadattā: Rhys DAVID and OLDENBERG, Vinaya Texts, part iii, p. 243.
165. Trişaşti, VI, 181. 166. Ibid., 1864.