Jain Journal 1985 01

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

Page 19

82
towards this religious system is strikingly attested by a classical reference too. It is thus a fact to note that the Ajivikas were patronized by the court of Magadha even before the introduction of Asoka's policy of toleration.
The influence of the Ajivikas on the contemporary religious history is also recorded in the inscriptions of the great Maurya king, Asoka.35 The Seventh Pillar Edict which was issued in the twenty-seventh year of Asoka's consecration, i.e. 237 B.C. describes the duties of the Dharmamahamatras. These officers of public morals "were ordered...to busy themselves with the affairs of the Samgha; likewise others were ordered...to busy themselves also with the Brahmanas (and) Ajivikas; others were ordered...to busy themselves also with the Nirgranthas; others were ordered...to busy themselves also with various (other) sects; (thus) different Mahamatras (are busying themselves) specially with different (congregations)."36 Various scholars like Buhler,37 Hoernle,88 D. R. Bhandarkar39 have interpreted 'bābhanesu a(j)ivikesu' differently. Whatever might have been the interpretations of the term, one thing is very clear from the above mentioned Pillar Edict as pointed out by A. L. Basham-"The Seventh Pillar Edict also gives some indication of the influence of the Ajivikas at the time. The Ajivika Sangha appears as a fully developed religious community, on an equal footing with the two other non-brahmanic systems, and is not relegated to the last category of the 'various heretics'. It may be suggested that, since Asoka mentions the Ajivikas before the Nirgranthas, or Jainas, the former sect seemed to the king to be either more influential or more worthy of support than the latter."40
In fact, the heyday of the Ajivikas during the time of pre-Maurya and the Maurya periods in Magadha and its neighbouring regions is known from the testimony of Asokan inscriptions as well as his successor Dasaratha in the Barabar11 and Nagarjuni cave inscriptions.42 In the Barabar Hill complex there are in all four caves, viz. Karna Chopar cave,
34 Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, I, p.xxxv.
35 Ibid., pp.131 ff.
36 Ibid., p.136; II, pp. 15-16.
37 Epigraphia Indica, II, p.272.
38 ERE., i, p.267.
39 Indian Antiquary, xli, pp.286-290.
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40 Basham, op. cit., pp.149-150.
41 Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, I, pp.181 ff.
42 Indian Antiquary, XX, pp.361 ff.