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JAINA EPIGRAPHS : PART I
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Monastic Orders Various monastic orders of the Jaina Church are mentioned in the inscriptions under study. Before proceeding to discuss their mutual relation and their place in the hierarchy of Jaina ecclesiastical organisation we should do well to recount them here for ready reference in chronological order : 1) Kuņďakunda anvaya without details is mentioned in No. 19 from Kopbal, dated A. D. 881. 2) Sārasvasta gaña without details is mentioned in No. 46 from Uppina Betgāri, dated in a. D. 964. 3) Dosiga gana and Kondakunda anvaya are mentioned in No. 22 from Kopbal, dated about n. ). 1009. 4) Dravila Samgha, Sēna gana and Mālanīra anvaya are mentioned in No. 1 from Ingalgi, dated in A. D. 1094. 5) Müla Samgha, Dēsiya gana, Pustaka gachchha and Piriya samudāya are mentioned in No. 2 from Hunasi-Haďagali, dated in a. D. 1098. 6) Vamdiyūr gana without details is mentioned in No. 9 from Ādaki, dated about A. D. 1115. 7) Maí dulva gana without details is mentioned in No. 3 from Södam, dated in A. D. 1124. 8) Mula Saṁgha, Kuņďakunda anvaya, Krāņār gana and Tintriņika gachchha are mentioned in No. 6 from Sõdam, dated about the 12th century A. D. 9) Müla Saṁgha and Balakara gana are mentioned in No. 25 from Kopbal, dated about the 12th century A. D. 10) Müla Samgha and Dēsiya gana are mentioned in No. 49 from Yalbargi, dated about the 12th century A. D. 11 ) Mūla Samgha, Dēsiya gana, Pustaka gachchha and Ingalīśvara Bali are mentioned in No. 50 from Yalbargi, dated about the 12th century A. D. 12) Müla Samgha and Dēsiva gaņa are mentioned in No. 51 from Yalbaryi dated about the 12th century A. D. 13) Mūla Samgha and Balātkāra gaña are mentioned in No. 52, dated about the 12th century A. D. 14) Yāpaviya Samgha and Vardiyur guna are mentioned in No. 15 from Tengali, dated about the 13th century A. D. 15). Mūla Samgha and Sēna guņa are mentioned in No. 27 from Kopbal, dated about the 13th century A. D. 16 ) Müla Samgha, Bulātkāra guņa, Sarasvati gachchha and Kundakunda anvaya are mentioned in No. 14 from Malkhed, dated about A. D, 1391.
A perusal of the above details helps us to arrive at the following useful results.
i) Müla Samgha which was the most predominant monastic order of the Jaina Church in South India figures prominently in our epigraphs. As Kondakunda anvaya, Dēsiga gana and Sarasvati gachchha (or gaña) were invariably associated with this Samgha, we might assume its presence in the first three instances of the above list, though there is no specific mention to that effect.
ii) Dēsiya or Dēsiga gaṇa was a widely prevalent branch of the Mūla Samgha and it occurs prominently in the present collection also.
