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More Light on the Yāpanīya Sangha : A Jaina Sect
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There are some other inscriptions which have lately come to light. i) One at Sedam of 1124. A. D. refers to Prabhācandra Traividya of of Maduvagana possibly to be associated with the Yāpanīya Sangha. ii) One from Badali (Dt. Belgaum ) of 1219 A. D. refers to the Yāpaniya Sangha, Kāreya Gana. The teachers mentioned are Mädhava Bhattāraka, Vinayadeva, .... kirti Bhattāraka, Kanakaprabha and Srīdhara Traividyadeva.? iii) One from Hannakeri (A. D. 1209 and 1257 ). Here is reference to Yāpaniya Sangha, Mailāpānvaya and Kāreyagana. The teachers mentioned are Kanakaprabha (who is called jātarūpadharavikh yātam, i. e., known for his nudity or nirgranthatā), Sridhara, Kanakaprabha-pandita.? iv) On the pitha of the first floor of the temple in the Mangalwar Peth, Kolhapur, there is a record in Kannada which states that Vomiyanna got prepared the patta-śālā; he was the brother of Raviyanna, the pupil of Vijayakīrti of the Yāpapiya Sangha and Punnāga vșksa-mūlagana.4 v) Lately Dr. Gururaj BHATT sent me a copy of an inscription from the Image at Varang (S. K.) which mentions Kāņūrgana. He is studying it more closely.
. This chronological survey of various inscriptions (from the 5th to the 14th century A. D. ) referring to the Yāpaniya Sangha clearly brings out certain broad facts about this Sangha. Yāpaniyas, to begin with, were distinguished from Nirgranthas, Sveta pata and Kūrcaka. The Yăpaniya Sangha is associated with ganas like Kumuligana (or Kumudigana ), ( Koți ) Maduvagana, Kandur- or Kāņur-gana, Punnāgavrkşamüla-gana (also. linked with Mülasangha ), Vandiyūra-gana, Kāreyagana and Nandi-gaccha and Mailapānvaya. This contamination with different Ganas indicates that the Sangha gradually got itself expressed through Ganas which, as the account of the Ganabheda shows, were becoming more prominent in Karnataka and round about. The result is that often only the Punnāgavęksamūlagana or Kandūrgana is mentioned without specifying the Yāpaniya Sangha. This should explain how gradually the Yāpaniya Sangha was lost and became mixed with others, especially the Digambaras in the South. One of the saints of this Sangha is called jātarūpadhara, a term generally used by the Digambara monks. How the saints of this Sangha compromised their practices and creed are matters for further investigation. According to the Nītisāra (7-8 ) of Indranandi, the Sanghas were there first : Simha-, Nandi-, Sena-, and Deva-Sangha; and later grew Gaņa, Gaccha etc.
1 B. P. DESAI: Ibidem. p. 403. 2 R. S. PANCHAMUKHI: Karnataka Inscriptions, I, Dharwar 1941, pp. 75-6. 3 K. G. KUNDANGAR : Inscriptions from N. Karnatak and Kolhapur States,
Kolhapur 1939. 4 Jinavijaya (Kannada), Belgaum 1931 (May-June ).
3 [ Annals, B. O. R. I, )
