Jain Journal 1972 01

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 22

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JAIN JOURNAL
Dr. Kashi Prasad Jaysawal, the ancestors of Srenika had migrated to Magadha from Kasi.35 It is also believed that it was the same dynasty of Kasi in which Tirthankara Parsva was born. 36 On the basis of this belief it may be concluded that the Jaina religion was Srenika's family religion. According to the Jaina narrative, although Srenika was a Jaina by family faith, he had relinquished it temporarily during his exile in his princehood. It might be that, during that period he might have followed the lax śramaņas who were referred to in the course of discussion with Sramana Anathi, but as already said, during Lord Mahavira's first visit to Rajagrha on the attainment of omniscience, Srenika got refixed in the Jaina faith.
It is undoubtedly true that during the last three years or his life, Srenika was in contact with the Buddha and his order, but this was no more than a courtesy to another great leader of the age.
Rajagrha was the main centre of Mahavira's activity, which would not have been so but for the monarch's interest in him or his faith. It was not Rajagrha but Sravasti which was the centre of activities of the Buddhist order. In Sravasti were the Jetavana of Anathapindaka and the Purvarama of Mrgarmata. There too reigned the king Prasenajita, one of the foremost followers of the Buddha. It was there that the Buddha sojourned twenty-six rainy seasons, while only five at Rajagrha. On the other hand Mahavira passed only one rainy season at Sravasti. It is remarkable that just as Mahavira prophesied for Srenika to become a Tirthankara, the Buddha predicted for Prasenajita to become a Buddha.37 Thus it is clear that Srenika was the follower of Mahavira, and Prasenajita was the follower of the Buddha.
Famous historian Dr. V. A. Smith expresses the same opinion. He writes: “He (Srenika) appears to have been a Jaina in religion, and sometimes coupled by Jaina tradition with Asoka's grandson, Samprati, a notable patron of the creed of Mahavira."38 Mr. Smith concludes : “Being related through his mother to the reigning kings of Videha, Magadha and Anga, he (Mahavira) was in a position to gain official patronage for teaching, and is recorded to have been in personal touch with both Bimbisara and Ajatasatru, who seem to have followed his doctrine.”39
85 38 37 38 29
Quoted by Dr. J. P. Jain in his Bharatiya Itihas : Ek Drsti, p. 62, 1957. Ibid., p. 62. Anagatavamsa ; Dictionary of Pali Proper Names, vol. II, p. 174. The Oxford History of India, p. 45. Ibid., pp. 31-2.