________________
52 Jaina Religion: Its Historical Journey of Evolution
Scholars are expected to engage themselves in research in this direction.
From the historical evidence available it looks that Nirgrantha samgha went in two directions from its place of birth i.e. Bihar, in its mission to spread Jainism. One group went to south Bihar and Bengal then to Tamil Nadu via Orissa and from there it travelled to Srilanka and Java, Sumatra etc. Around 2ma century BC with increasing influence of the Buddhists Nirgranthas were ousted from Srilanka and consequently they came back to Tamil Nadu. Many Jaina records of around 1* century BC in Brāhmi script are available in Tamil Nadu, which prove the fact that Nirgrantha-sargha reached Tamil Nadu as early as two or three hundred years after Mahāvīra's nirvāņa. It is also believed that Ācārya Bhadrabāhu after having ordained Candragupta Maurya went to the south, though its historical authenticity cannot be proved without some controversy because the documents or records that mention this belong to 6 or 7th century AD. Today also there is a vast number of Tamil Jainas who represent the oldest followers of Jaina tradition. They are known as Nayanars and Panchamvarnis. Though with the passage of time the ancient Jaina tradition has disappeared from Bihar, Bengal and Orissa there are remnants of this tradition in the form of a caste
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
