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4. JAINISM IN KARNATAKA
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Paudanya and Paudana were still earlier variants of the place name. According to the Mahabharata, Paudanyapura was founded by Asmaka. Asmaka was also the name of a country, figuring in the Purāņas. It lay between the rivers, Godavari and Narmada, having Pōdanapura as its capital. Asmaka becomes Assaka in the Buddhist literature wherein Assakas are referred to as a people or a tribe. The Buddhist writers mention this place as Pōtana and Pōtali.' In the Dasakumāracharita, chap. 8, the king of the Asmaka country is stated to have been a feudatory of the ruler of Vidarbha. Podana appears to have been a stronghold of Jainism in very early times. It is celebrated in the Jaina literature as the capital of Bahubali,' son of the first Tirthakara, whose former name was Purudeva. It is also mentioned in the life of Parsvanatha. By the time of the 10th cantury A. D. it had ceased to be a centre of the Jaina faith, and legends and miraculous tales had grown around it. This is illustrated from an account of the foundation of the statue
of Gommatesvara at Sravana Belagola by Chamundaraya as narrated in an inscription from that place. The emperor Bharata, elder son of Purudeva, caused to be made near Paudanapura, an image of Bahubali, 525 bows high. After the lapse of time, a world-terrifying mass of immeasurable Kukkutasarpas sprang up near the image. Afterwards the region became invisible to the common people, though seen by many skilled in charms. There could be heard the sound of celestial drums; and there could even be seen the details of divine worship. On hearing of the supernatural powers of the Jina, a desire arose in the mind of Chamunḍaraya to see him. But finding that the place was distant and inaccessible, he caused to be made the image of Gommatesvara and installed it at Sravana Belagola.*
JAINA RESEARCH IN HYDERABAD: Except for such stray notices and casual discoveries as are noticed above no systematic efforts have been made to tap the vast resources lying concealed in the unexplored area of Hyderabad Karnataka which is rich in inscriptions and other antiquities. The Archaeological Department of Hyderabad has published a monograph on the Kannada Inscriptions of Kopbal' which furnishes good material for
1 Nundo Lal Dey: Geographical Dictionary of Ancient and Mediaeval India, pp: 12-13. But its identification with Pratishthana is evidently incorrent (p. 157). 2 Adipurana, IX, 65-prose passage, XIV, 43-prose passage, etc.
3 Bharati (Kannada journal), 1933, September, p. 26, f. n. 19.
4 Ep. Carn., Vol. II, No. 234. Bodhana had inherited similar legends in the Brahmanical literature also. This is testified by the Mahabharata of the Kannada poet Kumara Vyasa. In the Bakavadha Parva the poet specifically refers to the place by its name Bōdana and describes the events originally attributed to Ekachakranagara as having taken shape in this region. The place is also spoken of as Viprapura and Bahudhanyanagari in the chapter.
5 Hyderabad Archaeolgical Series, No. 12,
