Jain Journal 2006 07

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

Page 34

Chitta Ranjan Pal: Mahāinuni Jambūsvāmi and Bengal
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the Kingdom of Anga (North Bihar, Bhagalpur dist.)- Magadha (South Bihar, Patna district) towards East for preaching the new doctrine or for begging alıns. Probably this restriction on the movements of the monks and nuns was imposed for the protection of the newly ordained inonks and nuns from unwarranted harassments in the East beyond Anga-Magadha.
The assumption is attested by the fact that there is a rule in the 5th Chedasūtra text i.e. the Byhatkalpa which allows a Jaina monk or a nun to wander as far as Anga-Magadha (North and South Bihar) to the East, Kausāmbi (Kosām) to the South, Thuna (may be Thāneśvara) to the west, and Kunāla (seems to be North Košala) to the North.
It seems that within a short time people of some parts of Bengal adhered to the faith preached by Malāvīra setting aside the monastic rule restricting the movements of the monks to the East. Probably the intrusion of Jaina faith in Bengal took place in the middle of the 5th century or at the fag end of the 5th century BC.
Save and except the two traditions-one recorded in the Divyāvadāna and the other regarding the existence of two Jaina holy places of pilgrimage at Pundravardhaņa from the pre-Christian centuries——the comparative study of the old Brāhmanical, Buddhist and Jaina scriptures strengthen the view that Bengal was aryanised at about 5th century BC.
While the Vedic literatures like Aitereya Brāhmaṇa and Aranyaka, scornfully mention the naines of Pundras and Vangas and the Sūtra literature like Baudhāyana Dharmasūtra recommends an expiatory sacrifice after a journey to the Pundra and Vanga territories and while the early Buddhist Pāli canon, Arguttaranikāva is shy to include the name either of Vanga or Pundra to the sodaśa mahā janapadas (Sixteen big territories) of the time the Buddha and Mahāvīra (i.e. the 6th century B.C.) some early Jaina scriptures refer to Vanga, Pundra and Rādha with honour. Bhagavatīsūtra, the fifth Anga of the Jainas, places Anga and Vanga at the head of a list of sixteen mahājanapadas even before Magadha. The fourth Upānga Prajñāpanā classes Vanga and Pundra in the first group of Aryan peoples whom it calls the ksatriyas. From the honourable reference to