Jain Journal 1999 01

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

Page 9

NAGARAJAIAH : THE CONCEPT OF SĀSTRA-DĀNA IN JAINISM
83 wanted by its possessor. She was a dāna-vinode, a woman taking pleasure in giving gifts. She had the following cognomen:
a. Gunadanka-Kārthi: Famous in possessing all the virtues. b. Mahā-sati-ratna : Jewel head of the great women. c. Kavivara-kāmadhenu: A Desire fulfilling cow of the great poets. d. Jinadharma-patāke : Fluttering flag of the Jainism. e. Abhilaşitārtha-dāna-vinode: She who takes pleasure in giving
whatever gifts asked for. f. Kațaka-pavitre : Immaculate of the army.
Attimabbe was a great patron of art, architecture and literature. During her life time she caused 1501 temples; a great feat that no where and at no time, in the world a similar instance is found where a single person is responsible for constructing 1501 temples in one's life time. When Attimabbe learnt that the palm-leaf copies of śāntipurāņa (a poem authored by Ponna (C.E. 960), a poet and polymath, a biography of the sixteenth Tirthankara, consisting of twelve cantos in campū style) are no more available to the learned section, she immediately got another thousand copies of palm-leaf manuscripts by employing regular proficient copyists; and she freely distributed it as an act ofśāstra-dāna; thanks to her timely action the poem has survived to this day (I should humbly record here that I had the honour and pleasure of editing the above work with the introduction and prose translation). Attimabbe also patronised Ranna (C. 960-1016), a poet laureate in the court of the Calukya kingdom, who composed Ajitapurāņam, (C.E. 993) the biography of the second Tirthankara, and the palm-leaf copies of the kävya poem were distributed as sastra-dana; it is considered as one of the best classics of Kannada literature.
(B)
The illustrious erudite Virasena-ācārya who was a royal teacher to both Jagattunga and Nīpatunga who had Amoghavarsa-I (814-877) as his second name, kings of the Rāştrakūtas, wrote Dhavală-Ţikā, the commentary of Satkhaņdāgama of 72 thousand verses using both Prakrit and Sanskrit languages (C.E. 815). When the copies of the above Dhavalā-Țikā were not available to either the public or the ascetics, a pious lady took the onus of getting the canonical text copied; how it was done, needs an in extenso description, because it is an interesting episode.
Bacaladevi, a consort of Bhujabala-Ganga-Permmāờideva, king of Mandall-thousand, a principality in Shimogha district, had caused a beautiful caityālaya at Bannikere. It was the best of temples in the Mandali-nād dedicated to Arhat-Pārsva, the 23rd Tirthankara.