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Lord Mahavira and His Times
hana,1 Udayana,2 Viangaya, Vīrajasa, Śañjaya, Śankha, Käsivaddha a3 and others are said to be his followers. Queens like Prabhāvati of Udayana,4 Mṛigāvati and Jayanti of Kośāmbi, queens of king Śrenika and Pradyota, and princesses like Chandana, the daughter of the king of Champā followed Jainism. Princes called Atimukta, Padma,9 grandsons of Śreņika, Megha, Abhaya and others10 are said to have joined the Order of Jainism. The royal patronage must have facilitated the spread of Jainism.
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Both Jainism and Buddhism claim most of the contemporary rulers of this period as followers of their respective religions. It seems that it was the general policy of the rulers of this and even of later times to show reverence to the teachers
of different sects. As Śreņika's father is said to be a follower of the Purśvanatha sect11 which had also its stronghold at Rājagriha, it is natural that Bimbisāra was inclined towards Jainism. The Uttaradhyayana Sutra12 relates how Bimbisāra, 'the lion of the kings' with the greatest devotion visited the other 'Lion of homeless ascetics' (Aṇagāra-Siham) at a chaitya with his wives, servants and relations, and became a staunch believer in the Law. R.K. MOOKERJI and other historians13 have identified this ascetic with Mahāvīra because of the expression Anagara Siham, while others14 consider him to be a different ascetic, Anathi of the Nirgrantha sect. His Jaina leanings
1. Ara, Chu, II, p. 207.
2. Bhag, pp. 556 ff.
3.
Sthānā, p. 430 b.
4. Ava, p. 299.
5. Bhag, 12. 2.
6. Ava, Chu, p. 91. Anta, 7, p. 43
7. Bhag, 458 b.
8. Anta, III.
9. Nāyā, p. 32.
10. Ibid., p 33; Naya. Chapt. 1; Ava. Chu, p. 115.
11. Tri, Pu. Cha, x, 6, 8.
12. Ultura, xx, 58.
13. Hindu Civilization, The Age of Imperial Unity, p. 21.
14. NATA, p. 313.
