History of Jaina Monachism

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

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S. B. DEO (5) He made the king of Magadha, Bahasati-mitra, to bow down to his feet. Then he set up the image of the Jina of the Kalinga which had been taken away by king Nanda to Magadha.
(6) "In the thirteenth year, on the Kumārī Hill where the wheel of conquest had been well-revolved i.e. the religion of Jina had been preached), he offers respectfully royal maintenance, China clothes and white clothes (vāsāsitāni) 205 to (the monks)";
(7) He brought about a council of the wise ascetics and sages from various quarters;
(8) He caused to be compiled the sevenfold Angas of the sixty-four letters which had been lost in the period of the Mauryas,
(9) He realised the nature of soul and body. The following observations may be made on the above points :
(i) Even though he was a devout Jaina, he, perhaps, did not like to leave the traditional grooves of Kshatriya life, inasmuch as he did the Rājasūya ceremony. He also gave gifts to the Brāhmaṇas. It may mean, therefore, as is the case in most of the cases of royal patronage in India, that even though Khāravela had a strong affinity for Jainism, he was not antagonistic to other sects. In fact he styled himself as 'sava-pāsanda-pūjako' -the worshipper of all sects.206
(ii) From the account of his conquests, he seems to have weilded influence over Magadha, as well as terrified other kings, as far south as the Pāndyas. Inspite of this, however, it is not known what he did regarding the spread of Jainism in these regions.
(iii) That he was a devout Jaina is evident from his winning back the Jina image which was taken to Magadha by the Nanda king. Besides this, he accepted the vows of an uvāsaga and ultimately realised the distinction between Jiva and Deha.
(iv) The reference to the 'moriya-kāla-vocchinna' (destroyed in the reign of the Mauryas) sacred texts, perhaps, hints to the tradition of the great famine in Magadha in the reign of Candragupta, and his migration to the South with Bhadrabāhu. So also his reference to the assembly of wise ascetics and sages possibly echos the tradition about the Council of Pataliputra under Sthūlabhadra. Thus, the inscription goes to confirm the traditional accounts of the Jainas regarding famine, councils and the loss of the Canon.
205. JAYASWAL & BANERJI, E. I., Vol. XX, pp. 80, 89. 206. JBORS., iv, p. 403.