Mahavira Jain Vidyalay Suvarna Mahotsav Granth Part 1

Author(s): Mahavir Jain Vidyalaya Mumbai
Publisher: Mahavir Jain Vidyalay

Page 622

JAINISM IN MATHURĀ IN THE EARLY CHRISTIAN ERA : 157
era, and so the donors appear to be foreigners who had come to Mathurā and accepted Jainism. This assimilation of the foreigners in the fold of Jainism belies the notion that Jainism was confined only to the land of its origin. The famous story of Kālakācārya, the Jaina saint who brought about the downfall of the Gardhabhilla dynasty through the help of the Sakas of Seistan, points to the contacts established between Jaina saints and foreigners, some of whom may have been attracted to it.
Mathurā, known as Saurīpura or Suryapura to the Jainas5 seems to have been frequented by the Jaina monks from the north-east, i. e., from Magadha, after the famous famine described in the Jaina scriptures. The Jainas established themselves there about the middle of the second century B.C. The Amohini Tablets is a shining example of the existing nature of Jainism in the first century B.C. The inscriptions from Kankāli Tila also mention some unfamiliar names like Akakā and Oghā?-names of ladies, probably of foreign origin--whose dedications speak of their acceptance of Jainism.
The composition of the Jaina religious orders into several schools known as ganas with their different kulas and sākhās and sambhogas is brought out by the records of the Kuşāņa period which is corroborated by the evidence from the Kalpasūtra. The three prominent ganasbeing Koțţika, Väraņa or Caraña and Arya-Uddehikīyalo. Another one Vasavadiya is implied with reference to its kula mentioned in a record.11 The different kulas associated with the Kotţika gana were Brahmadāsika, Thănīya, Vacāliya and Prabāhaka (Praśnavāhanaka) with their corresponding sakhas-Ucenāgari, Aryavairi or Vairi and Majhmia. The heads of the Aryavairi were Aryya Puśila (Arya Puşyala) and Vșhatavācaka Jayamitra in the years 12 and 2012 respectively of
3 Dr. Bhandarkar Volume, p. 288. 4 Vikrama Adventures, Introduction. 5 SBE, XLV, p. 112. 6 EI, II, p. 204, No. 20. 7 Lüders' List of Inscriptions, Nos. 48, 29, 43. 8 Ibid., Nos. 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 25, 27, 28, 29, 33. 9 Ibid., Nos. 18, 34, 37. 10 Ibid., No. 21; IA, III, p. 105, No. 23. 11 EI, I, p. 282, No. 2. 12 EI, II, p. 203, No. 18; EI, I, p. 383, No. 4.