Models of Conflict Resolution and Peace in Jain Tradition

Author(s): Nalini Joshi
Publisher: ZZ_Anusandhan

Page 6

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अनुसन्धान ५० (२)
of Hāthigumphā (Kalinga, Mod. Orissa) that this Jaina king Kharavela (200 B.C.) belongs to Cedi dynasty. Though Vanarāja Cāvadā who was a Saiva king of Gujrat in the eighth century, it is evident that he was a Jainized King. He was assisted by important Jaina laymen in ruling the kingdom. He was a devotee of a Jaina mendicant and received spiritual guidance to rule his kingdom. Kumārapāla (12th Cen. A.D.) was one king in the Coulukya dynasty who personally became a Jaina. Hemacandra, the most renowned Jaina Ācārya was his Guru. Animal slaughter, meat, liquor, hunting and dice were strictly prohibited in his kingdom. The dynasties like Kadamba, Ganga, Rāstrakūța, Cālukya and Hoyasala were quite co-operative towards the Jaina monks and laymen. It is of course the outcome of keeping good relations with the rulers.
On the advent of Mughal kings, mendicants of both the Tapā and Kharatara Gaccha attempted successfully to established peaceful relations with them. Muni Jinaprabhasuri was a contemporary of Mahammad Taghlak (14th Cen.). He influenced the Mughal Emperor with his occult yogic powers. Due to this relationship, Jinaprabha became successful in keeping the Jaina Samgha and Jaina temples intact. With the royal support, Jinaprabha produced remarkable literary works." In the 16th Century, Ācārya Hiravijayasūri was honoured in the court of Emperor Akbar. As a result it is said that the Emperor enforced non-harm in his kingdom on certain holy days and had taken a vow to forego hunting. Jaina narratives portray Jahangir in a similar fashion.
In the early twentieth century Tapāgaccha Ācārya Buddhisāgarasūri had influenced Sayājirao Gaikwad of Baroda.
The interaction between the Jainas and Europeans is very complex and even less studied than between the Jainas and Muslims.12 This has been an interaction at the socio-economic level, as Jainas were among the Indian merchants with whom Europeans had their earliest dealings. The British were the