Jain Journal 1974 10

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

Page 10

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JAIN JOURNAL
literary tradition connects him with the Nanda dynasty of Magadha."17 Mario Bussagli has pointed out that in the Parisista-Parvan, the Jaina work of Hemacandra, it has been told that, "the mother of Candragupta was the daughter of the head of the custodians who looked after the peacocks of Nanda Mayura-Posaka)."'18 According to Bussagli the ancestry of Candragupta is still uncertain. After considering various sources he opines : "To make it clear I think it likely that these data on the formation of the Maurya may be traced back to the time when these semi-legendary accounts were taking shape in India which repeated again and again, reappear in the later Jaina tradition. This would explain the mingling of historical facts with others that are purely legendary. The court of Bindusara must have offered a favourable environment in which the figure of Candragupta, without losing all its historical features, began to grow dim behind the veil of legends whose purpose was to give a noble origin to the Mauryas, but that could not entirely obscure the truth of events which were still too recent."19 Bussagli has also drawn attention to the opinion of Adrzej Gawronski according to which the use of Vrsala in the Mudra-Raksasa "reflects the atmosphere of the courts and the authoritative and confidential behaviour of the Minister to the King."'20 Without actually supporting the identification Bussagli has compared Vrsala with the Greek regal title Basileus. 21 Though interesting, the expression Nava-Nanda found in the works of Ksemendra and Somadeva may only signify 'nine Nandas' as opposed to 'a new branch of the Nandas' which belongs to the interpretation of some scholars.
While the reference of a Nandaraja in the Hathi-Gumpha inscription of Kharavela will recall the imperial ambition of Magadha, the Kalinga-Jina carried away by the invader might be any one of the Tirthankaras among whom the names of Rsabhanatha, Parsvanatha and Mahavira have come within the range of greater probability. The images of Jinas were evidently represented in sculpture in the Maurya-Sunga
17 Political History of Ancient India, p. 216. 18 'Indian Events in Trogus Pompeius', East and West, Published year VII,
Number 3, October 1956, p. 233.
Ibid., p. 238. 20 Ibid., p. 233. 21 Ibid.