Kevalaodhi Buddhist And Jaina History Of Deccan Vol 2

Author(s): Aloka Parasher Sen, B Subrahmanyam, E Siva Nagi Reddy
Publisher: Bharatiya Kala Prakashan

Page 56

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Kevala-Bodhi-Buddhist and Jaina History of the Deccan
from the 5th century AD, patronised mainly by the ruling families, it started receiving patronage of mercantile community from the 10th century onwards." In Rajasthan, the mercantile community proliferated with the assimilation of a large number of converts to Jainism . It has been pointed out that the Osvalas, Jayasvalas, Khanelvalas, Agravals and Maheshvaris, five main divisions of the Vaisyas in western India were originally Ksatriyas, but later became Vaisyas when they converted to Jainism and took to trade.com
Another factor, which may have played a role in the rise of Jainism by the 8th century AD, appears to be the decline of Buddhism. Buddhism, a very popular sect in the region in the early centuries of the Christian era, started declining by the 7th-8th century AD. By the 10th century AD the sect was almost wiped out from the region except a few centres like Kanheri, Sopara and Panhale-Kaji in Konkan. It has been argued that Buddhism lost ground mainly because of lack or loss of grass-root support. While the Buddhist monks did almost nothing to get support of laity and to define their role in the religion, the Jainas produced vast literature on the duties and role of laity and thus the laity felt the sense of participation. Again, Buddhists did nothing against 'Brahmanisation of their sect and so Buddha came to be incorporated as one of the avatāras of Vişnu. On the other hand, the Jainas strongly resisted such attempts when Ishathanātha was claimed to have been an avatāra of Vişnu and on the contrary tried to incorporate popular Brāhmanic deities by producing 'Jaina' Rāmāyaṇa and Mahabharata. In Buddhism, bodhisattvas reached such a stage of significance that they almost replaced Buddha and thus could easily be incorporated by Brahmanism, especially deities like Avalokitesvara due to its iconographic similarities with Siva. On the other hand, in Jainism, Jina retained its supreme position even though a large number of other deities were incorporated for popular support. Jainism also introduced a set of rituals and festivals, prevalent in Brahmanism. Though Buddhism declined because of various factors and Jainism survived due to some conscious efforts by the community, it is very difficult to say why did Jainism come to prominence only when Buddhism declined and not during flourishing state of Buddhism. This phenomenon is noticed in other parts of the country also. Both the sects are not known to have enjoyed equal position in any part of the country, though they are known to have co-existed in some parts. Thus, in Karnataka and Gujarat, strongholds of Jainism, Buddhism was almost absent. In east India, especially Bengal, when Buddhism held an influential position during the Pālas (8th to 12th centuries AD), Jainism had almost been wiped out from this region. Though a detailed study at pan-Indian level is required to probe into this phenomenon, a few hypotheses can be suggested. One of the important reasons could have been strong apparent similarity between both the ascetic sects, which probably resulted in severe competition and thus failure of either sect to hold equal position in a particular region at the same time. It is quite possible that when Buddhism declined in Maharashtra due to a variety of reasons, many followers of the sect turned to Jainism or were won over by the Jainas and thus Jainism rose to prominence.
There must have been many other factors responsible for the rise of Jainism in the post-10th century AD preiod. Another important factor could have been the persecution of Jainas by Vira Śaivas and Aļvārs in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. It is quite possible that the persecution of the Jainas in the neighbouring regions led to the migration of Jainas to Maharashtra, where the conditions were more cordial. However, a combination of all these factors must have led to the rise of the sect in the post-10th century AD period.