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Preface
The Jain way of life demands an assiduous walk on the path of austerity. The fundamental principles, although presented with sufficient logic by the Tirthankar Prabhu, and carried down in the oral tradition by the Shrutakevalis, to be later reduced to writing in the form of Agams, appear to bewilder the layman at the outset.
The path of austerity needs to be traversed in proper guidance from Sages – a Guru, a Sadguru. In spite of Jainism having prevailed strongly upon the southern parts of our country in the early centuries of the first millennium, towards the end of the eleventh century A. D., its influence had begun to show signs or erosion. The rise of other faiths, in particular the rise of certain militant off-shoots of Hinduism, combined with a widespread withdrawal by the people from the Jain path, led to a steady decline in the following. This was primarily owing to the rampant ritualistic and oppressive approach of the preachers and custodians of dharma in those times. Moreover, the visits of ascetics in the Jain order had become rare and as such the followers were left with no recourse to personal guidance. So much so that despite being Jains in their faith and following, the people merged with the other communities, losing their identity.
Yet the fact remains that the contribution of Jainism to literature and culture in the southern parts of our country is even today acknowledged as the richest.
Migrant Jains who came in and settled in the south from various parts of the country contributed to the resurgence of the awareness of this faith here, in the last century. However, the visits by ascetics of the Jain order were few and far between. Rarer were the occasions, when any nuns of the Jain order would travel this way.
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