Jain Journal 2003 07

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

Page 11

JAIN JOURNAL: VOL-XXXVIII, NO. 1 JULY 2003
not only specify the responsibility of the donee, but also versify the act of charity.
Some recently discovered stone inscriptions of the early Rāstrakūta period have revealed rare information of Gosāsas to Jaina pontiffs. So far donation of cows to Jaina monks or monasteries, although recorded in Tamilnadu epigraphs, was almost unknown in Karnataka. Ranna (C.E.993), poet-laureate of the Kalyāņa Cālukyas, had mentioned Gosāsas in his Ajitapurānam, a campū calssic. Though most of the extant inscriptions in the state are read and recorded, the doors are still wide open for the fresh entries to come in, shedding new light on the dark corners of cultural history. This brief anatomy of the Jaina inscriptions, studied so far, of Karnataka, is an attempt at explaining their superiority as an essential and authentic source material, in the reconstruction of history of India in general, and of Karnataka in particular.
So far it has been possible to examine only 1/4 of the total number of Jaina inscriptions to be studied. Further research of the remaining 3/4 of the epigraphs will yield more useful and authentic material. Jaina literature of Karnataka is multifaced. It is not confined to literary texts alone. It is inclusive of inscriptins also. Some of the Jaina epigraphs of Karnataka, composed in Sanskrit and Kannada languges, are nothing short of abridged poems. Inscriptions of Shravanabelagola, Mulguda, Hombuja, Kogāli, Niralgi, Halebidu, Saundatti, Terdā), Lakkundi, Balligāme, Bandalike etc are in traditional campū style and are notable for their socio-historical importance. At the same time they are remarkable for their literary flavour.
The Jaina inscriptions found in the Districts of Bhių, Kolhapura, Nānded, Sangli and Usmānabād in Maharashtra State, confirm that the Yāpaniya sect had its branches and followers in that area, during the reign of the Cāluyas of Kalyaņa.
Authentic material is available about the ravage and conversion of Jaina temples at various places. For instance, an inscription of C.E. 1184 from Tālikoțe in Bijapur District (vide SII. Vol XV No. 56) is of great historical, socio-cultural and religio-political significance.