Jain Journal 2007 01

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

Page 19

132
JAIN JOURNAL: VOL-XLI, NO.3 JANUARY. 2007
The temporary occupation of South Bihar and North Bengal, two vital regions of the Pāla Kingdom by Pratīhāra Kings who were inclined to Jaina faith, might have inspired the Jainas of Bengal to greater and more vigorous religious activities in the truncated Pāla Kingdom and the outcome of these religious activities (it may be Nālanda by a merchant named Vaidyarnātha, son of Monorathalu on the 24th ycar of Rājyapāla's reign i.e. C941 A.D. This dated inscription proves that the prevalence of Jaina faith in the Pāla Kingdom was not dependent upon royal support but on the patronage of the merchant class.
It is a matter of great astonishment that with the temporary decline of Pāla power, the creativity of Buddhist scholarship, the vigour of the Buddhist inisions, vitality and initiative of the Buddhist artists - all were struck, as if, by a thunder bolt. For more than a century from the second half of the 9th century to the Ist half of the 10th century A.D. no philosopher, no scholar, no teacher no artist worth name appeared on the Buddhist horizon of Eastern India.' In the opinion of a scholar Buddhism in Eastern India had fallen into a ‘stupor' in the 10th century A.D.16
The 'Stuper' into which Buddhism had fallen in the 10th century A.D. proved to be a blessing in disguise for the Jaina community of Bengal. They got a unique opportunity to preach their doctrine and extend their influence over newer regions unopposed. Deprived of royal patronage, the Bengalee Jaina lay-devotees, most of whom perhaps belonged to small trading and artįsan classes, built with their small funds, not stupendous but small temples and upāšrayas and adorned them with images of their Tīthankaras and attendant gods and goddesses.
In fact the century of stupefaction for the Buddhists was turned into a century of virgorous and feverish activities on the part of the
14. R.P. Chandra - Archaeological Survey of India (1925-26)
pp124 ff. 15. N.N. Dasgupta - Bānglāy Bauddhadharma (in Bengali) p 72 16. R.C. Mazumdar (ed) - The Struggle for Empire p 415