Book Title: Political History of Northern India
Author(s): Gulabchandra Chaudhary
Publisher: Sohanlal Jain Dharm Pracharak Samiti Amrutsar

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Page 313
________________ THE DYNASTIES OF RAJASTHANA 283 leave his earlier association with Saivite ascetics. In the words of Bühler we may say that it is the peculiar tendency of Indian character to reconcile sharp contradictions in different religious systems by conceiving and explaining the same as merely various forms of the same fundamental truth. In the twelfth century we may see that the Brahmanical gods of Trimurti were identified with the Jinas and that probably Hemacandra himself made use of an identification in the beginning of his attempts at Kumārapala's conversion to his doctrine. It was then quite natural that his convert afterwards worshipped Śiva along with Jina. We may perhaps also asssume that Hemacandra fully concurred in that, for otherwise he could have hardly described so impartially the Saivite temples built by his patron and pupil.1 Moreover, the Udayapur stone pillar inscription of V.E. 1222 (1166 A.D.)2 and the Veravala stone inscription of Bhāva BỊhaspati of V.E. 1225 (A.D. 1169 )3 describe him as a devotee of Siva. Fortunately, a colophon of a Jain MS Jnātadharmakathādi-şadanga-vivarana (V.E. 1225) also supports the above view of the two epigraphs by stating the title Umapativaralabdha-prasada. From the above-narrated circumstances it appears that Hemacandra did not offer any serious opposition to Kumāra pāla's Saivite tendencies and could not wholly lure Kumārapāla away from Saivism, but he succeeded to some extent in inducing him to observe constantly the most important Jain vows and in exerting a great influence over the government. Gujarata did not, of course, become a Jain empire in the sense that the majority of its population were converted to Jainism. But the edicts against the killing of animals, against spirituous drink, against gambling were successfully enforced and, thus, some of the most important tenets of Jainism came to be rooted into the life of everyone.5 His family: Regarding the family and relatives of Kumārapala we learn that he had two brothers, by name Mahīpāla and Kārtipāla, perhaps, elder than he was. The later Prabandhas like the Puratana-prabandhasangraha and the Kumārapala-prabandha refer to his sister. We have already seen that his brother-in-law Kānhaďadeva was the king-maker,8 but regarding his second sister early Prabandhas are silent. We find among 1 Ibid., pp. 46-47. 2 IA., XVIII, pp. 343-44. 3 HIG., Pt. II, No. 155, p. 60. * SJGM., XVIII, p. 110. 5 SJGM., XI, p. 47. & Kumarapala-prabandha, p. 18. I SJGM., II, p. 38; Kumārapāla-prabandha p. 40. 8 SJGM., T, P. 78. Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

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