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From the life-story of the Buddha it may be stated that he was deeply influenced by the thoughts and conduct of P r va. Buddha's paternal uncle was also a follower of P r van tha. The C tury ma idea of the nirgranthas seems to have had an influence on Buddha himself, because later on he founded his a mikga m rga (the eightfold path) which includes C tury ma. It is said that not only was there an impact of the Jain religion on Buddha's thoughts but after becoming a mendicant he spent six years of his life as a Jain monk. P r van tha's speech and teachings influenced many kings and royal families of his time. There were many royal families in P r van tha's time where he was considered their family deity. Most v rtya k atriyas of central and eastern regions were followers of the Jain religion. At that time in many parts of the country, especially in southern India strong N ga clans emerged who had Pr van tha as their cult deity. Among the powerful Vajj ga a of Videha and Vai 1, too, the religion of P r van tha was popular. It is said that the king of Kalimga and P mc la were also influenced by the teachings of P r van tha.
Pr van tha's disciples in Jyotirma dala
In the Niray valik S tra, in the first and second chapters of the third section named Pu pit , there is, respectively, description of Indra, moon and sun of the astrologers and that of planets such as ukra,etc, which is as follows:
Once when Lord Mah v ra was staying at a garden named Gu a laka in R jag ha, the Indra of Jyotirmaņdala, 'Candra' (moon) came to see the Lord at his samava ara a. In order to make an impression of the Jina order he made groups of gods and goddesses to appear there through his celestial power of vaikriyalabdhi and also presented many beautiful and attractive shows there in front of the four-fold order to impress them, and returned to his place. The Ga adhara Gautama asked Mah v ra – “Lord! Who was this god Candra in his past life and how did he obtain these powers?”
Mah v ra replied – “Long ago there was a g th pati named Amgati in
r vast city who was wealthy and respected by kings and subjects alike. Once, Lord P r van tha came to r vast . Amgati too went to the Lord's samava ara a along with a huge group of people and listening to the
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