Jainism and Karnataka Culture

Author(s): S R Sharma
Publisher: Karnataka Historical Research Society Dharwar

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JAINISM AND KARNĀTAKA CULTURE
excellence of whose body and intellect had been produced by the great religious merit acquired by good actions performed in a previous state of existence.” He gave the village of Marade " for the holy people and the performance of rites of the temple which wasthe property of the sect of śramaņas called the Aharisti and the authority of which was superintended by the Ācārya Dharmanandi.” And, in conclusion, the grant declares, "The reward of them who preserve bridges and repair them when broken is declared to be twice as great as (the reward of) the original builders of them."" Even when the Kadambas became formally Brāhmanical again, as they did later on, we find that they continued to patronise Jainism as attested by a grant of “Deva son of Krşņa who celebrated horse sacrifices. *5 In the opinion of Fleet this was not later than the 10th cent. A.D.*6 The land was given to the sect of Yāpaniyas,7 at Triparvata in the village of Siddhakedāra “through a desire for the rewards of his own meritorious act.""48
JAINA GOLDEN AGE UNDER THE GANGAS The Gangas of Mysore were for a long time the political rivals and enemies of the Kadambas. "A still more distinguished dynasty," says Smith, "was that of the Gangas, who ruled over the greater part of Mysore, from the 2nd to the 11th century, and played an important part in the incessant mediaeval wars." 4But more than anything else, we are interested in their consistent patronage of Jainism, which might be truly said to have attained its Golden Age under the
44 Ibid., p. 32. 45 Ibid., p. 34. 46 Ibid., p. 33.
47 The Yapaniyas, Kūrcakag, Nirgranthas etc. were naked Jaina sects. Cf. Ibid., p. 34 a 11. Also see Journal of the University of Bombay I, VI, May 1933.
48 Ibid., p. 34 49 Smith, The Oxford History of India, p. 199