Book Title: Jains Through Time
Author(s): Shilapi Sadhvi
Publisher: Veerayatan

Previous | Next

Page 39
________________ The Jains through Time The Splendour of Jainism in South India Let me tell you something about the spread of the religion of ahimsa and compassion by those people so worthy of my veneration, the Jain acharyas. Come, take a look at all those years that have gone by. It is more than two thousand years ago; Buddhism and Brahminism were at their peak. There was great animosity between the Aryan and non-Aryan races. There were hardly any amenities for travelling. Despite these obstacles and all sorts of other challenges, the Jain shramans ignored all the external differences of caste and creed and spread the message of Mahavir in Aryan and non- Aryan states alike. They journeyed to South India, the centre of the Dravidian community, and established Jain monasteries there. to the people's welfare. They developed cordial relationships with royal families in the area and earned their respect and devotion. Many kings, noblemen, generals, ministers and other notables became Jains and renounced the world. The main dynasties of the South - the Gangas, Rashtrakutas, Kadambas, Pallavas, Cholas, Chandras, Hoyasalas, Chalukyas and Pandyas - expressed their keen interest in the teachings of Mahavir. While the kings of North and West India in general merely respected Jainism, the kings of South India not only embraced it as their religion, but also made its propagation the cornerstone of their reign. 40 With tremendous hard work and dedication they learned the difficult local dialects of Tamil, Kannad and other languages so that they could use them to write up the Jain texts. They opened schools, orphanages, dispensaries and other institutions dedicated Jains in the latter part of 1" century AD could be compared to present-day Christian missionaries. They exhibited the same tireless patience, burning zeal, ingenuity and fortitude. For them, devotion and propagation were two sides of the same coin. The natural companion of their day was the thought that everyone should be touched by the compassion of Mahavir. Whichever country they journeyed to they Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282