Jinamanjari 1998 04 No 17

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

Page 40

certainly show that some of the Sātavāhana kings had patronized Jainism during this period.
The evidence thus clearly establishes the fact that the Jain socio-religious activities continued after Maurya Samprati followed by Kalinga kings who also wielded power over Andhra, and then, under the patronage of some Saka Chiefs as well as some Sātavāhana kings.
From the Time of Maurya Samprati through the kings of Kalinga and the Sātavāhanas, Jainism appears to have found a very conducive environment to develop its doctrinal principles into an exhaustive interpretive analysis and explanation by its ascetic scholars. Saint Kundakunda being one of the most noted celebrities among those Jaina ascetic scholars, and as the historical account noted earlier, Kundakunda must have thus enjoyed a large patronage under Sātavāhana rulers of the ancient Andhra country and the Pallava kings of Conjeepuram in the ancient Tamil country. Emergence of Acarya Kundakunda : Date and Place
According to Prof. A.F. Rudolf Hoernle's List of Pontiff Genealogy, Kundakunda was born in the year 52 B.C.E, and died on the fifteenth day of the month of October in the year 43 C.E. 10 Prof. A. Chakravarti observes that Pallava king Siva Skandavarma of Conjeepuram belonging to First C.E., was a patron of Jain religion or was himself a Jaina by faith. To this royal disciple, Kundakunda composed Prābhrta-Traya." Hence, Kundakunda must have lived up to the middle of the century. The eminent historian and scholar Dr. J.P. Jain, however, assigns him to 8 B.C.E. to 44 C.E.'2
Based on the voluminous works he composed and the fame and position he achieved in the Jain history of South India, and as Peterson calls him a "teacher of great antiquity and renown,” it is not improbable to suggest that Kundakunda must have had enjoyed a long life, 95 years as indicated by Hoernle in the genealogy list. This incidentally falls rightly with the date Dr. J.P. Jain assigns his death to 44 C.E. Therefore, the popular tradition which assigns him to 52 B.C.E. to 44 C.E. may not out rightly be disregarded, although some scholars in the recent give an indication - on the basis of theological interpretation of Kundakunda and Umasvati - that Kundakunda might belong to a later period." However, in light of Dr. A.N.