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A. N. UPADHYE-A review of Mediaeval Jainism by B.A. SALETORE-Bombay 1938. Pp. XII plus 426. (N I.A. Vol. 2, 1939-40) Pp. 128-134.
Jain Education International
JAINA BIBLIOGRAPHY
Dr. SALETORE in his preface says-'far from being a bundle of metaphysical beliefs, Jainism was a faith that added in a large measure to the material prosperity of the land'. Jainism in the South rose to unrivalled brilliance not only in the fields of letters, arts and religion but in the domain of politics as well. The Ganga dynasty was established under Jain auspices in the 2nd century A.D. especially through the efforts of Acarya Simhanandi. Many of the later Ganga princes were fervent Jainas. By the time the Ganga power bagan to diminish, Jainism came under the aegis of two royal families, Rástrakūtas and Kadambas. Jainism received a good deal of patronage from the Western Cälukyas; the Hoysala Kingdom itself was a second supreme creation of Jain wisdom. The various Jaina centres of the south, possessed some of the most superbe intellectual prodigies India had ever produced. Jainism, especially under the Hoysala patronage added a good deal of the architectural and artistic splendour of India. Provincial heads from the families of the Santaras, Kongalvas, Cangalvas etc. were patrons of Jainism. The greatest claim of Jainism at the hands of posterity is that it gave to India men who turned it into a philosophy of action, and clearly showed the importance of the fact that ahimsa, which was the keynote of their great faith, instead of being an obstacle in the path of their country's liberation, was really an adjunct without which no freedom could be effected either in the field of religion or in that of politics. Many eminent ladies came forth as the defenders of the faith. The instance of the four gifts of learning, food, medicine and shelter-the primary needs of humanity-on the part of the richer sections of the people must have had the inevitable effect of drawing to the Jain fold the larger sections of the populace among whom Jainism had made rapid stridies from the ninth onward till the fourteenth century A.D. Various cultural centres in and around KarnaReferences to Jainism are detected in Tamil works of the Sangham age; establishment of the Dravida Sangha. In the Andhra territory Jainism can be traced back to the pre-Mauryan days. One of the best claims of Jainism at the hands of posterity is that it contributed to the literatures of all the three provincesKarnataka, the Tamil land, and Andhradesa. The Jainas fostered the principle of toleration more sincerely and at the same time successfully than any other community in India. Saivas and Vaisnavas, especially in the Tamil land ill-treated. the Jainas and the claimax of this ill-treatment was reached in the days of Tiruj ñanasambandhar. Jainism suffered a set back in the Deccan almost on the eve of the foundation of the Empire of Vijayanagara. Queen Bhimadevi of Vijayanagara,
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