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History of Jainism with Special Reference to Mathurā
Arabia, indicates that the Jainas were familiar with the idea of the conversion of foreigners.239 Hiuen Tsang's account makes it clear that Jainism had won converts in Kapiśā, i.e., beyond the borders of India in the north-west.240 Numerous foreigners lived in Mathurā during the Kuşāna period. The females named Ujhatikā, Okhārikā, etc., if they were foreigners, as appears from their names, probably converted to Jainism from among these immigrants.
The Jainas were called Nirgranthas in Mathurā even during the Kusana period. 241 The tīrthaskaras and the siddhas were held in great esteem by the Jainas. The donation made by a Jaina in the form of an image was often inscribed with an invocation of a particular arhat,242 or the arhats and the siddhas.243 We do not find use of the epithets jina, tīrthamkara and tīrthakara in the Jaina inscriptions discovered at Mathurā.244 The epithets used for the jina or the tīrthakara were arhat245 or arahaṁtas (arhats)246 or bhagavata 247 The Buddhists also used the epithet bhagavata for the Buddha at Mathurā.248
Construction of temples and setting up of the images of the tirthamkaras and āyāga-pattas was the most significant aspect of the religious life of the Jainas at Mathurā. It was a holy task in which all Jainas - male and female, high and low - participated with pleasure. The Jaina inscriptions of Mathurā reveal that the bulk of donations by Jaina lay-devotees, male and female, was made at the request or command of the Jaina preceptors belonging to the various schools. 249 The religious zeal of the Jaina monks and nuns knew no
239. OISJ, p. 4 fn 4. 240. Samuel Beal, op. cit., I, p. 263; HOIC, I, p. 167; OISJ, p. 4 fn 4. 241. EI, X, Appendix, no. 102. 242. Ibid., no. 59. 243. Ibid., no. 57. 244. Ibid., Appendix, pp. 2 ff. 245. Ibid., nos. 47, 59, etc. 246. Ibid., no. 57. 247. Ibid., nos. 24, 26, 27. 248. Ibid., no. 43. 249. Ibid., nos. 16, 18, 20, etc.
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