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10
[ Vol. I.
King, was he whose name was first the word Sri followed by the famous vijaya, learned, of superhuman qualities, of glory dispensing ignorance." 1
JAINA ANTIQUARY.
(f) "He whose pair of pure lotus feet the Poysala king Vinayaditya having served was brought into the possession of great fortune, the place of implicit commands, that Santi Deva muni's ability who is worthy to describe as this much or that much; are they not rare, the possessors of such surpassing glory."
99 2
Jaina Influence on Conquerors.
even
I shall close this paper by giving just one illustration of how the Vitaraga doctrine of Jaina Sampradaya and the Vitaragî Rishis that lived it and by doing so wielded such political power, had worked over persons high placed in life i.e., over conquerors of kingdoms and embattled hosts :
"This auspicious great minister and dandanayaka...... Ganga Raja, when the army of the Chalukyan emperor...... was left in camp at Kannegala; saying " Let go" and springing on to his horse, caring not for its being a fight by night, went with speed and with the sword in his . arm carried terror into the panick stricken army."
Thus as if it were sport, having defeated all the feudatories, he brought the whole collection of their stores and vehecles and presented them to his own lord; who saying I am delighted, delighted with the prowess of your own arm. Ask, what you will.
Having gained supreme favour he asked not at all for kingdom or wealth, but his mind fixed on the worship of Arhat, he asked for Parama.
And having so asked
He presented it for the worship of the Jinalaya which his mother Pôchala Dêvî had made and the Jinalaya which his wife Lakshmi Dêvi had made" 3. Such was the piety and contempt for mere wealth which the Jaina faith had engendered in the minds of the greatest men of action."
Such was ancient South Indian Jainism; such was its yogue and such its influence. This is but the barest of a bare outline of its cultural history which deserves a volume by itself. If Jainism and Jaina Culture should again influence Indian life in our time, it should worthily concentrate, as did its ancient Rșis in South India, on the practical teaching of its spiritual discipline, its dikshas and its sikshas to one and all, men, women and children, high and low, rich and poor,-preferably even low and poor in order that whereby the mass mind may be illumined and the mass life ennobled and freed from the bondage to ignorance and the thraldom to sense desire. Will the Jainacharyas take the leadership of the coming democracy in India ?
1 Ibid No. 5, dated A. D. 1128
2
5 Epigraphica Carnatice Vol. II Sravana Belgola Insns No. 45, dated A. D. 1117.
