Jainism in India

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

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also occurs in manuscripts (Devnagri and Gurmukhi) ranging from sam. 1591-1811 (1534-1764 A.D.) The question which of the two names is earlier and when Lahanur went out of use needs investigation. However, the Jaina name, Labhapura, which probably dates from the time of Akbar and is a Sanskritised form of Lahaur shows that Lahaur and Lahanur both were current simultaneously for a long time.
Lahore acquired prominence in Jaina history during Akbar's reign. The emperor, being tolerant and inquisitive, established at Agra in 1573 an Ibādatkhānā or house of worship where representatives of various religions assembled and held discussions on religious topics ; and the Jaina monk Hiravijaya Suri, also, was invited to take part in them. Akbar was so highly impressed by the Suri's exposition of the virtues of ahimsā (non-injury to living creatures) that he gladly issued royal edicts to prohibit the slaughter of animals on certain days of the year throughout his kingdom.
About 1582 Akbar stayed at Lahore continuously for a number of years. It was during this time that Lahore became a centre of Jaina activities. Karam Chand, a Jaina baniã of Bikaner, who was a minister first of Kalyan Singh, and then of Rai Singh of Bikaner, having incurred the displeasure of the latter left his court and joined Akbar's as a bhändāri and settled at Lahore.
Once upon a time Karam Chand praised before Akbar the learning and saintly character of another Jaina inonk named Jinacandra Suri. Akbar wanted to see him, and the Suri was invited to Lahore in 1592. Now Jinacandra was a rival of Hiravijaya. Consequently, the latter, also, sent his disciple, Vijaya Sena, to Lahore to keep a watch that Jinacandra might not injure his influence over Akbar.
Both these monks attended Akbar's court from time to time. The presence of bhāndāri Karam Chand as Akbar's courtier and the influence of these monks at the court greatly enhanced the prestige of the Jainas in the eyes of the non-Jainas.
Jaina literature and inscriptions give a detailed account of the relation between Akbar and the monks, and describe in glowing terms the influence which the monks' teaching had on Akbar. The Muslim historians like Badauni looked upon these meetings with suspicion. The subject is fully treated in Vidya Vijaya's Sürisvar aur Samrāt and in
M.L. Desai's introduction to his Bhānucandracarita.