Jain Journal 1972 01

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

Page 42

120
JAIN JOURNAL
“My officers charged with the spread of Dharma are occupied with various kinds of services beneficial to ascetics and householders, and they are empowered to concern themselves with all sects. I have ordered some of them to look after the affairs of the Samgha (the Buddhist religious orders), some to take care of the Brahmin and Ajivika ascetics, some to work among the Nirgranthas (the Jaina monks), and some among the various other religious sects. Different officials are thus assigned specifically to the affairs of different religions, but my officers for spreading Dharma are occupied with all sects." (The Edicts of Asoka, Edited and Translated by N. A. Nikam and Richard McKeon, Chicago, 1962, p. 32). Since there is no doubt about the main import of the statement it is obviously understood that the edict had been intended for commendation to a people belonging to diverse religions and sects referred to. It is very likely that the imperial edict proclaimed its ideals along with an enumeration of aspects of a pious administration involving the Brahmins, the Buddhists, the Ājivikas and the Nirgranthas alike. If this is accepted the Pillar Edict VII of Asoka will again prove like various other sources the important prevalence of Jainism in the Punjab before the opening of the Christian era. In this connection may be recalled a famous legend according to which Taksasila was graced by the visit of Rsabha, the first Tirthankara, who went there to meet his son Bahubali. There are also annals in respect of Samprati, the grandson of Asoka who is known to have been a great patron of Jainism. It is well-known that the religion once flourished in Taksasila which was a seat of Jaina shrines in antiquity. There are still certain ruins and relics at Taksasila which may bear evidence to the faith of the early Nirgranthas. Even the ritual of the Pañcanadi Pūjā instituted by pious Jinadatta Suri in early mediaeval times may be regarded as a symbol of an ancient tradition. As it appears, the Nirgranthas were living in the Punjab even in Pre-Asokan times. It may be recalled that when the army of Alexander was voyaging and retreating along the Indus the region was famed for the learning of a class of Indian Philosophers the Gymnosophists “so called from their habit of going entirely naked”. (Plutarch's Lives of Alexander and Caesar, Extracted from the edition of "Plutarch's Lives" in Bohn's Standard Library. Translated from the Greek by Aubrey Stewart and George Long, London, 1913, p. 366). Though the extracts from the work of Bardaisan (Bardesanes) as preserved by Joannes Stobaeus in about 6th century A.D. may regard the Gymnosophists in a wider sense as including the Brāhmaṇas and the Sramaņas the exact faith of the sages encountered by the Macedonian general is yet to be ascertained. The description of Stobaeus leaves a little doubt that the Sramanas (Samanaeans) included the Buddhists and the Jainas alike (Dr. R. C. Majumdar : The Classical