Jinamanjari 2000 04 No 21

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

Page 11

681-696). During his visit to Raktapura, Vinayāditya gifted lands to a Jaina teacher belonging to Mūlasangha and Devagana. According to an inscription at Lakshmeswar, king Vijayāditya ( C.E. 696-733) gifted the village Sankholalu situated south of Puligere, which is modern Lakshemeshwar. The donne was Jayadeva Pandita who was the disciple of Vāmadevācārya. The purpose of the grant was to facilitate Jinabhattara who was residing at Sanka-Jinalaya.
In the 7th C. E., the army of the early Western Cāļukyas had many Jains. It was warrior class engaged ideologically in violence, which, in fact is completely in contrast to the Jaina Law of Ahimsa. The Jaina laity often belonging to warrior class and all the Thirthankaras in purvasrama were of the same class, Jainism allows war in self-defense, with least possible destruction. Hence among Karnataka Jains many pursued kshatriya occupation. The classic example comes from the period of Bādāmi Cāļukya period. Jaina Ravikirthi was a trusted commander of king Pulukesin-II. He was also a great Sanskrit scholar and wrote prasasthi sāsana on the eastern wall of Meguti basadi, which he commissioned at Āihole in Bijapur district. It is dated C. E. 634. Ravikirthi belonged to Yāpaniya sangha." Jaina warriors like Ravikirthi, spent part of their earnings, on the construction of the basadis which in a way promoted the propagation of the faith. It may be noted that the medium of expression of the Jaina warrior-ruling class of the period appeared to be Sanskrit.
One of the important developments in the history of Jainism during the period and place under study was the popularity of Yapaniyas. The earliest mention of the Yāpaniyas is most likely in the inscription of Jain Emperor Khārvela." In fact they were very dominant and had spread their influence in Karnataka at the time, as several inscriptions testify. The rulers of Kadamba and Cāļukya dynasties liberally gifted pieces of land to the Yāpaniyas. However, at present it is totally merged with the Digambaras. According to Devasena, author of Darsanasāra, we know them from C. E. 148, which means only 60-70 years after the beginning of the split in the Jain church into Svetambara-Digambara traditions.
Kālaśacărya established the Yápaniya-sangha at Gulbarga in C. E. 148. Besides Gulbarga, there were Yāpaniya centers at Adaki, Sedam, Halasi, Rona etc." belonging to the districts of Belgaum and Dharwar. Perhaps due to their dual allegiance, it was disowned by both Svetambara and Digambara traditions. Hence, the sangha later on either dwindled in importance or merged with the Digambaras. 14 Following is the subdivisions of the Yāpaniya sangha: a. Anvya: Kirtyācārya,'S Mailapaló b. Gacchas: Koțimaduva, " Nandi18 c. Ganas: Kanduru," Kareya, 20 Koti-maduvu?!
In a Jaina temple at Doddabasadi in Belgaum there is a ruined inscription on the pedestal of an image of Neminātha. It states clearly that the temple was commissioned by Pārisayya in C. E. 1070 and the image was installed by the Yapaniyas. 22
During this period, an interesting aspect of basadis emerged under the name of Pattada-Basadis. They were also called pattadajinalyas or Thirthankara-basadis. Pattadabasadi for Kadambas was at Palasika and for early
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