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Jainism in Mathura
amtevāsikini77 or siṣyanī.378 She was also called sāvikā,379 i.e., śrāvikā. The nuns were called ayikā 380 also.
Very few Jaina inscriptions belonging to the post-Kuṣaṇa period have come to light at Mathura. Therefore, it is not possible to throw light on the organisation of the Jaina Church in this city after the end of the Kuṣaṇa period. An inscription of the Gupta period 381 seems to indicate that probably the ganas and their sub-divisions existed during this period also. In the inscriptions of the medieval period the titles ācārya, ganin, upadhyaya, sūri and bhaṭṭāraka find repeated mention.382 Probably, these titles gained currency in Mathurā also. Two peculiar titles embodied in the Jaina inscriptions are śraddhacara and śraddhacari. In the inscriptions the śraddhacara is mentioned as the companion of the monk.383 It is reasonable to assume that the śraddhacara was the colleague of the monk, or his disciple. The inscriptions mention the śraddhacarī as the female companion of the nun.384 The śraddhacarī must have been a colleague or the disciple of the nun.
Mathura in Jaina literature
Jaina literature is full of stories and references regarding the state of Jainism in Mathura. These texts describe Mathura as a centre of heretical ascetics.385 According to some Jaina texts, Mathura- also called Uttara Mahurā — was the capital city of Śūrasena country, and this country was acceptable to the
376. EI, II, no. 4.
377. Ibid., no. 21.
378. EI, I, no. 1. 379. EI, II, no. 2. 380. Ibid., no. 21.
381.
382.
383.
384.
385. LDJC, p. 255.
EI, II, no. XXXIX.
HJM, p. 514.
EI, I, no. 4.
EI, I, no.1; EI, II, no. 11.
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