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350
JAINISM IN SOUTH INDIA
Verses 5-6. The great monk Kalyāṇakīrti earned renown in the world by his supremely righteous performances, having constructed a splendid temple in honour of Lord Jina on the spot where the sage Simhanandi attained final emancipation by wearing away the body under the rigorous austerities of Voluntary Death, and having installed in a marvellous manner the image of śāntinātha at Bichchukunde.
INSCRIPTION NO. 23
(Found on a pedestal at Kopbal) This inscription was noticed on a mutilated stone pedestal of an image at Kopbal. The pedestal was lying near the well, known as Daņakana Bāvi, in the fort area. The image was missing and so it was not possible to ascertain its precise nature. The inscription is damaged and some of the letters have been irrevocably lost. The available portion of the epigraph consists of three lines, which are carved in tiny handsome alphabet.
The characters are Kannada and the language is Sanskrit. The inscription contains no date; but it might be assigned approximately to the 11th century A. D. on palaeographical considerations.
The record is a label inscription. It purports to be that the image was a gift to the Jaina temple named Kuśa Jinālaya. The gift seems to have been made by one [Mā ]chidēva in memory and for the merit of the deceased ( Sa ]marāya who was most probably the former's father.
At the end of the epigraph is engraved the expression, Pārsva'. This term evidently is an abbreviation of Pārsvanātha, the name of a Tirthankara. From this we might infer that the pedestal belongs to the lost image of Pārsvanātha. This image might have been one of the twenty-four Tirthankaras, which were installed in the Kuśa Jinālaya. This surmise is further supported by the next inscription which in the same manner seems to refer to another Tirthankara, Chandraprabha.
TEXT 1 ...dēvādi-sadrūpaṁ [Mã]chidāvēna kā[ri ].... 2 ....[Sā]marāya-paroksha-ya[ 86].... 3 ....Kusa-jinālayē Il Pā[ róva] Il
TRANSLATION This original and true form of the god......was caused to be made by [Mā]chidēva, (for being installed) in the Kuśa Jinālaya in memory and for the merit of [Sā]marāya....... (This is) Pā [rsva).
