Jinamanjari 1998 04 No 17

Author(s): Jinamanjari
Publisher: Canada Bramhi Jain Society Publication

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Jinamanjari, volume 17, No. 1, April 1998
KUNDAKUNDA (58 B.C.E - 44 C.E.)
SAINT SCHOLAR AND PHILOSOPHER
Dr. Bhuvanendra Kumar, Mississauga, Canada
History records that the mulasangha established by Mahāvīra in the Sixth B.C.E. found its important place in the south, sometime after three hundred years. During this period, the Jaina church was in a position to regain the Maurya royal patronage, which had lost during the time of Asoka. Though not much is not known, the church appeared to have made a substantial effort in reenergising its philosophical horizon with a detailed exposition of life, soul and its travail, under the able stewardship of the southern saints and scholars.
What was the socio-religious conditions that existed in south, particularly in Andhra, after 300 B.C.E.? The great Mauryan king after Asoka was his grandson Samprati. Historical records show that Samprati (220-211 B.C.E.) was a disciple of Jainacarya Suhastin, and he has been known to have constructed Jain shrines in countries like Andhra, Damila, Marahatta, etc.' Recent archaeological excavations at Vaddamānu village 35 km. northeast of Guntur and about 40km southeast of Vijayawada in Andhra state, Dr. T.V.G. Sastri has reported a potsherd with an inscription reading Samprati vihāra, other Jain antiquities, and coins of Sada dynasty. These antiquities clearly support the existence of Vardhamanapura, in all probability named after Vardhamana Mahavira, the last Jina. They also establish that Vardhamanapura, having contacts with Magadha, was in existence by about third B.C.E.2
Considerable epigraphic evidence is available now, according to Dr. Hanumatha Rao, to show that there occurred Jain socioreligious activities in ancient Andhra. An inscription in the characters of Second B.C.E., found on the steps leading to the caves of Gunțupalli near Ellore in West Godavari district, records the construction of steps
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