Jainism and Karnataka Culture

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

Page 81

HISTORICAL SURVEY
of his body was as a medicine to ward off sickness from his family; how shall we describe the might of the superhuman powers and the penances of Maladhāri dera, the best of sages ! 221
Similarly, Kārtiviryadêva of the same Rațța family made a grant to Subhacandra who is also described as the high-priest of the Province. The purpose of the grant was to provide food, wholesome medicine and instruction in the sacred scriptures for the holy men living there, as well as for repairs, etc. The inscription is in Old Kannada, and state that it was composed by Pārsva 'from whom flowed forth charming words and meanings and rhetorical figures, causing hairs to stand up with joy to learned men with delightful sentiments'. This epigraph is interesting also for many other details it gives. For instance, it is mentioned that the grant was made in the presence of twelve headmen of villages, the chief of whom was Sindagāvunda of the Kaladgi party of that place, with oblations of water, as a grant to be respected by all ; it also speaks of guilds, markets, flower gardens, etc. Finally, it closes, “The dust of the earth may be counted, and the drops of rain; but the reward of preserving an act of piety cannot be estimated even by the Creator. Reverence to the Arhat !” 131
Further South, along the West Coast, in South Kanara and the adjacent districts, we have interesting testimony of the influence of Jainism over a number of petty rājās and chieftains. Some of the inscriptions within this area have already been referred to under the Viyayanagara rulers. There are several others, for instance, in the Hosa Basti at Muļbidre, which throw a flood of light upon the last phase of Jaina power in Karnāțaka. After the conversion of Vişnuvardhana in Mysore by Ramanuja, the centre of Jaina influence was virtually shifted to Muļbidrê in South Kanara. There it enjoyed the patronage of rulers like the Wodeyars of Kärkal, the Caaters of Mudbidre, Bangars
221 Ibid., p. 236. 222 Ibid., pp. 227–39; cf. Bom. Gas. I ii, pp. 641.42,
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