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GURUDEVA SMRITI GRANTHA
oligarchical in its character, now became exclusive, and this exclusiveness it seems to have retained for ever afterwards
The exclusiveness of the Aryan culture no doubt had certain good results. They became particularly manifest when India was invaded in the 12th century by the Muslims At that time it was the exclusiveness and sacredotalism of the Brahmanas that saved them from absorption by Islam, unlike the Buddhists who seem to have accepted the new faith in large numbers. But during the period of Aryan ascendancy in India the exclusiveness of the Brahmanic culture was a distinct creed in the country That in spite of that condition Hinduism spread throughout the length and breadth of the country and completely overshadowed the pre-Aryan faiths, was due to the role of Buddhism and Jainism, the two Sramanic doctrines, which invariably acted as the introducers of Aryan culture 10 all non-Aryan regions m the country The Aryans always contented themselves by referring to non-Aryan regions as mlechhadesa and to the people living there as untouchables in the Dharma-Sutra of Baudhayana such is the description given of the countries beyond the territories between the Indus and the Yamuna occupied by the Aryans that whoever goes to these countries commits sin with his feet and must perform the Vaisvanariya Isti Regardless of such injunctions, the Jaina tirthankara Mahavira went to Kalinga, where his father's friend was ruling and preached Jainism there. The Jaina tradition also speaks of Mahavira having visited the pathless country of the Radha, which was possibly the territory included in Western Bengal.
Indeed, the Jamas, and the same is also true of the Buddhists, considered it as their fundamental duty to bestow upon lands deprived of the opportunities of making acquaintance with the true religion, the benefits of Jaina preachings. That consideration took them to Kalinga and western Bengal in the 6th and Sth centuries B, C, and it is presumable that from Kalinga Jainism migrated to the Dravidian South, where it soon established a stronghold in Andhra. Chola, Pandya and Karna. taka kingdoms. Wherever Jainism went, Brahmanism daturally followed and ultimately superseded it. Presumably the spread of Hindu culture to the overseas colonies of Champa, Siam, etc. followed the same course Certainly in north west India beyond Mathura, which came in the 2nd century B. C to be dominated by foreigners like the Bactrians, the Scythians and the Sakas, and where Aryan culture was completely annihilated as a result of their domination, that was the procedure by which the territories were reclaimed for Hinduism The legend, Kalakacarya Katna. naka, which relates the story of Kalaka being insulted by king Gardhabhilla of Ujjain and seeking the help of Saka satraps under Sahanusahin, affords adequate insight into the establishment of Jaina influence in the region beyond Mathural ong before the Brahmanıc culture trekked back to it under the aegis of the Gupta emperors.
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