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212
MEDIÆVAL JAINISM
about the last one.1 An inscription on the pcdestal of the image in the śāntinātha temple relates that in A.D. 1257 Vijayaņņa (descent stated) of Kothanādu and the Jaina merchants of Dorasamudra erected the temple of śāntinātha. It was attached to the Desiya gana and the Pustaka gaccha. The donors obtained the village of Híraguppe (location specified) from the king Narasimha Deva III in A.D. 1257, and gave it over to Nayakīrti Siddhānta and his descendants.2
The Jaina citizens of Dorasamudra witnessed a remarkable spectacle in A.D. 1274. Bālacandra Panditadeva of the Deśiya gana and the Inguleśvara baļi and the Sri-samudāya, was a learned and austere guru. He had become famous in the world for his teachings on penance. When he made comments on the Sāracatuşğa and other works, his dikşā guru Nemicandra Bhattāraka listened. Once Bālacandra announced to the four castes thus" At noon (on the date specified) I shall enter the tomb", and he commanded them thus“You should all obtain dharma ; you must forgive me!" Having performed all the rites of sarinyasana, seated on palyankāsana (or couch), praising the forms of the pañcaparameştis, in a manner that gained the approval of his own and other sects, he suffered perfect entombment. At which all the Bhavyas of Dorasamudra performing all the ceremonies suitable for the occasion, as a memorial for his departure, made images of that guru and of the pañcaparameştis, and setting them up, extended his merit.3
Five years later (A.D. 1279) another great Jaina guru died
1. For a detailed account' read M. A. R. for 1930, pp. 52, 55, 59.
2. Ibid., for 1911, p. 49. 3. E. C., V. Bl. 131, p. 87.
