Jains Through Time

Author(s): Shilapi Sadhvi
Publisher: Veerayatan

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The Jains through Time
Tamil and Kannad. I hope it won't create a controversy if I say that from that period onwards for a thousand years Jainism more or less prevailed over the whole of South India.
great respect for Jainism because it gives equal emphasis to working towards one's own purification and working collaboratively with others for the universal good. The Tirthankars always establish a tirth to preach their message for the welfare of others. Once he had gained keval-gyan (omniscience), Tirthankar Mahavir could have lived a solitary life in the jungle, but this is not the way of the Tirthankars. The aim of Jainism is to share with others the beauty of the truth that you yourself have attained. You should take the ideas that have purified you to the world at large. It stresses that treasures found by you be found in equal measure by more and more people, until everyone in the world shares them.
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The People's Faith : Essential Seed for the Growth of Jainism The annals of my memory hold in their deep recesses a fascinating episode of Jain history that occurred in South India. It's worth knowing about this remarkable phase of history because it was one of the most important periods in the growth of Jainism. Some historians believe that Jainism came to South India when a twelve-year long famine gripped the north and thousands of shramans emigrated to the south". However, other historians assert that Jainism already existed in South India and that the influx during 3rd century BC gave fresh impetus to its spread. With the help of royal dynasties and through popular support South India became one of the leading centres of Jain activity. The cultural and social foundations of the South were strengthened by the Jains through their solid contributions to art, temple building, centres of learning and other welfare programmes.
This vision of universal welfare was the foundation stone of Jainism in South India. While historians are not able to specify the exact period when Jainism first penetrated the South, my own records tell me that at the beginning of 1" century AD, the great banyan tree of Jain religion and culture began to grow in that area and spread its branches with especially strong roots in
"Dakshin Bharat Mein Jain Dhama, Pt. Kailash Chandra Shastri, p.1
Ibid, p. 1