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3. JAINISM IN TAMIL NAD
89
"The All Knowing, the incarnation of Dharma, He who has transcended all limits of understanding, the All-Merciful, Victor among victors, the Accomplisher, the Adorable One, the Origin of Dharma, the Overlord, Absolute Right-ousness, the Essence, the Holy One, the Ancient One, the All-Wise, the Vanquisher of Wrath, the Master, the Śiva-gati (Sublime Resort), Supreme Leader, the Exalted One, the Possessor of all Virtues, the Transcendental Light, the Great Truth, the All-God, the Supernatural Sage (Charanan), the Root Cause of all, the Master of mysterious powers (Siddan), the Paramount One, the infinitely Radiant Illumination, the Dweller in everything, the Guru, the Embodiment of Nature, our Great God, the Abode of never dimini shing Eminence, the Emperor of Virtues, the Samkaran (Bestower of Supreme Bliss), the Isan (Paramount Ruler), the Svayambhu (Self-born), the Chaturmukha (Four-faced), the Bestower of Angas, the Arhat, the Ascetic of Grace, the One God, the Master of Eight Attributes, the indivisible Eternal Substance, the Dweller in the Heaven, the Foremost of the Vedas (Vēda mudalvan), and the Shining Light that dispels ignorance! None can escape the prison of this body unless he obtains the illumination of the revealed Võda proclaimed by Him who has the various above-mentioned names."
No strict advocate of the Jaina doctrine and philosophy would pass this description of the Jina or Arhat unchallenged. Particularly interesting among the epithets in the above extract are the expressions Isan, Samkaran, Siva-gati, Svayambhu, Chaturmukha and the reference to the revealed Võda. No doubt, all these phrases are capable of interpretation to suit the Jaina conception of the Arhat; and it is evident that they are not used here in their normal sense, but in a specialised sense, possibly to arrest the credibility of the followers of the other faiths.
An examination of the relationship that subsisted between the followers of various doctrines and the worshippers of different deities as reflected in the Silappadikaram, shows that it was an age of perfect religious tolerance, wherein few occasions arose involving conflict of creeds and recrimination of faiths. But even then, incidents leading to peaceful discussions in regard to the superiority of the respective creeds, when followers of different schools came together, do not seem to have been rare. How the followers of the Jaina faith fared in such debates and how they tried to score the point against their opponents on such occasions, is happily illustrated in the Silappadikaram itself. While at Uraiyur the travellers met a Brāhmaṇa who, under the pretext of informing the proper route to Madura, delivered a sermon on the excellence of God Vishnu consecrated on a hill adjoining a miraculous cave near Madura. Having heard the arguments of the Brāhmaṇa, Kavunti gave the following significant reply.' "O Brahmana versed in the four Vedas and 1 Silappadikaram, pp. 177-78.
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