Jain Journal 2005 10

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

Page 28

CHITTARAJANPALJAINISM IN BENGAL
Bengal.'' Had not North Bengal been overwhemingly dominated by the Nirgrathas in the 3rd century B.C. two independent sākhās or branches of the same sect would not have been cstablished at a distance of only a few miles.
The Pahāçapur inscription dated 478/79 A.D. proves the extraordinary popularity of the Nirgranthas or Jainas among the inhabitants of Pundravardhana Bhukti. It seems that the respect which the Jaina monks earned for themselves, inspired the Brahmin couple of Vata gohali to donate lands for the maintenance of a Jaina Vihāra run by the Acāryas attached to Pancastūpanikāya of Kāsi (Banaras).
King Saśānka of Gauda has been accused for persecuting both the Buddhists and the Jainas. However from a perusal of the evidence of Aryamanjusrimulakalpa, it seems that the torture and persecution suffered by the Jainas were more painful than that suffered by the Buddhists. Perhaps the numerical superiority of the Jainas to the Buddhist was the cause of heavier punishment for the Jainas.
That the Jainas were numerically superior to the Buddhists in some kingdoms of Bengal is also attested by Hieu-en-Tsang who toured all over Bengal in the year 637 / 638 A.D. Regarding the numerical strength of the Jainas in two kingdoms - Samatata and Pundavardhana, Hieu-en-Tsang observed that “The Jainas were more numerious20 than the followers of the Buddha and the Brahmanical religion in Samatata and Pundravardhana.
During the reign of the Pāla kings, the traditional Jain centre of Pundavardhana grew more prosperous and spectacular as is evident from the discovery of several Jaina sculptures assigned by the experts to the 10th, 11th & 12th centuries.
The earliest Jaina sculpture, noticed by the historians in Bengal,
17. 18. 19.
Kalpastra, translated by K.C. Lalwani, p. 140 Epigraphia Indica XX. p. 59 C.R. Pal, Saśānka, the enemy and oppressor of Jainism, Jain Journal, Vol. XVI, No. 1 Watters, Yuan Chuwang, Vol - II.
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