Jainism in India

Author(s): Ganesh Lalwani
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

Page 38

JAINISM IN ORISSA
The history of Jainism in Orissa goes back to the days of Parsvanatha while legendary accounts push back the date still further to the time of the eighteenth Tirthankara Lord Aranatha, who is believed to have received his first alms in the metropolis of Rayapura. Rayapura is probably the same as Rajapura described in Mahābhārata as the capital of Kalinga. The association of Parsvanatha with Kalinga is alluded to in many Jaina literary texts. According to Jaina work Kṣetrasamāsa, Parsvanatha in course of his preaching visited Tamralipta and Kopakataka which corresponds with the modern Tamluk in West Bengal and Kopari in the Balasore district of Orissa respectively. The Pārsvanathacarita of Sri bhavadeva Suri gives the story of the marriage of Parsvanatha with Prabhavati after her rescue from the clutches of Kalinga Yavana. An abduction scene in the Rani Gumpha is taken to have represented this episode of marriage. There is reference to the kingdom of Kalinga in the Jaina literature. In Jaina work CitrasenaPadmavatcarita, prince Citrasena is mentioned as the son of king Virasena of Vasantapura, a pattana in the country of Kalinga. The Jaina Karakanducariu mentions the miraculous enthronement of Karakandu in Kalinga, while the Kumbhakāra Jātaka and the Uttarādhyayana Sutra describe him as ruling over Kalinga contemporaneously with Naggati (Nagnajita) of Gandhara, Durmukha (Divimukha) of Pancala and Nami of Videha. The Uttaradhyayana Sutra significantly points out that 'these bulls of kings have adopted the faith of the Jainas, after having placed their sons on the throne, they exerted themselves as śramaņas'. All these indicate that possibly Jainism was introduced into Orissa by the twentythird Tirthankara and it exercised a considerable influence in the spiritual life of the country. The prevalence of atheistic Jainism in some portions of Kalinga in the early days is indirectly hinted by the Mahabharata which instructs that the irreligious people of Kalinga should be avoided as they are without the Vedas, without sacrifice and even the gods do not accept any offerings from their hands. The Baudhayana Dharma Sutra also regards Kalinga as an impure country.