Jainism in Ealy Medieval Karnataka

Author(s): Ram Bhushan Prasad Singh
Publisher: Motilal Banarasidas

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Jainism in Early Mcdical Karnataka of the 9th century. It consists of two parts, the Adipurana and the Uttarapurāņa. The Adipurāņa bas forly seven chapters and deals mainly with the life of the first Jina, Rşabhadeva and liis son, Bharata. Fortytwo chapters are composed by Jinasena, and the remainder is added to ic by his disciplc Gunabhadra. The Uttarapurāņa contains the biographics of all the remaining grcat figures of the Jaina tradition.
Besides thc Sanskrit Jaina Puranas, several Puräņas were composed in Kannada. Pampa, Ponna and Ranna, who arc considered to be the three gems of Kannada literature, flourished in Karnataka during the 10th century. Thc Adipurana of Pampa, the Santipurana of Ponna and Ajitapurāna of Ranna deserve special mention. They enriched the Kanarese language:. Cāmundaraya, who was a general of the Ganga King Mārasimha and Rācamalla, also composed the CamundarajapuränQ. which contains a complete history of the twenty-four Jinas. It is the oldest cxtant specimen of a book, written in continuous prose and therefore enables us to gain a knowledge of the language as spoken in the 20th century A.D."
In the 11th and the 12th centuries there flourished some eminent Kanarese scholars, who composed the Jaina Putānas in Kannada. Among these scholars, the foremost place is assigned to Nãgacandra or Abhinave Pampa, who fourishcd during the reign of the Hoysaļa King Vişnuvardhana. He wrote the Mallinatha Purana, which deals with the life story of the nineteenth Jaina prophct. The work has unique value, because it preserves for us a Jaina version of the Ramayana which differs in important respects from its Brāhmaṇical version. Besides, we have Neminātha Purana in Kannada by Karņapārya, which describes the story of the twenty-second Jaina prophet. It also throws light on the stories of Krsna, - thc Pāndavas and the labābhārata war. Karņapārya flourished in Karnataka in the middle of the 12th century A.D.4 1. M. Winternitz, op. cit, p. 499; J. P. laina, The Jaina Sources of the
History of Ancient India, P. 204; N.R. Premi Faina Srhitza aur Itihasa,
p. 140; Pannalal Jaina, (ed.), Adipurina, Introd. p. 20. 2. E P. Rice, A History of Fantarese Literature, p. 32. 3. ibid. p. 31. 4. Ibid. p. 36.