Book Title: Medieval Jainism
Author(s): Bhasker Anand Saletore
Publisher: Karnataka Publishing House

Previous | Next

Page 316
________________ STATE AID TO JAINISM 299 And in regard to Jainism their attitude was by no means different. It is evident that the noble example of king Bukka Rāya I exercised a great influence on his successors. Hence we find that kings and queens and members of the royal family gave unstinted patronage to the cause of the anekāntamata in the Empire. And it is interesting to note in this connection that the impulse to support the cause of the Jina dharma came from the queens of Vijayanagara, one of whom was a Jaina herself. This was Bhimā Devī, who was the queen of Deva Rāya I. Her spiritual guru was Panạitācārya ; and in about A.D. 1410 she caused an image of śāntināthasvāmi to be made in the Mangāyi basadi at Sravana Belgoļa. This temple, we may note by the way, had been built in about A.D. 1325, by Mangāyi of Belgola, “a crest jewel of royal dancing girls”, and a lay disciple of Abhinava Cărukīrti Panạita, of the same place. But about the identity of Panditācārya, however, no details are forthcoming." Queen Bhīmā Devī may have been responsible for the generous attitude of king Deva Rāya I towards the Jaina gurus. Evidence from two inscriptions definitely points to the high favour in which that monarch held the Jina faith and its champions. The Padmāvati basti inscription of Humcca cited elsewhere in this treatise, contains the statement that Dharmabhūşaņa guru, the chief disciple of Vardhamāna muni, and a great orator, was served by munis and rājas. Dharmabhūşaņa “had his two feet illumined by the crown of the rājādhirāja parameśvara, the king Deva Rāya.”4 From the 1. E. C. II., Intr. p. 29; 337, p. 144. 2. Ibid., 33a, p. 145. 3. There is an Abhinava Panditācārya mentioned in circa A.D. 1311. Ibid, 495, pp. 133-4. 4. Ibid., VIII. Nr. 46, p. 148.

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448