Religion and Culture of the Jains

Author(s): Jyoti Prasad Jain
Publisher: Bharatiya Gyanpith

Page 41

HISTORY OF JAINISM AFTER MAHĀVĪRA
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with several other autonomous clans and the Nāgas of Kāšī including the branch established in Magadha, were contumeliously nicknamed Vrātya Ksatriyas by Brāhmaṇical writers like Manu who regarded them as being outside the pale of Brāhmaṇism, probably because they were followers of the Sramaņas and, in many cases, had been the devotees of Pārsva. A majority of these people naturally adhered to Mahāvīra when he began his ministry, not merely because he had been born amongst them. The royal families of the kingdoms were also friendly or related to him, and practically nowhere did his followers meet with any resistance or opposition. A race for supremacy had already started among the states and Magadha, under Bimbisāra and his even more ambitious successor, Ajātaśatru, was emerging as the most powerful claimant for imperial power. Ajātaśatru was succeded by Udāyī. All these three kings were followers of Mahāvīra's religion which seems to have continued to be the faith of the family till its supercession by the Earlier Nandas, about the middle of the 5th century B.C., who also patronised Jainism. King Nandivardhana of this dynasty conquered Kalinga and brought from there the image of Lord Rşabha, the national diety of that country, and installed it in his own capital, Pataliputra. His line was replaced by that of Later Nandas who are known to have Jaina leanings and had Jaina ministers. About 325 B.C., Candragupta Maurya, the Sandrokottos of the Greek writers, ousted the Nandas, established his own dynasty in Magadha, and extended the Magadhan empire far and wide. He was one of the most powerful monarchs of the world in his times, and was a follower of Jainism. His political guru, guide and prime minister, Cāņakya, also appears to have been a good Jaina by faith. About 297 B.C., this emperor abdicated the throne in favour of his son, Bindusāra, to lead the life of a Jaina ascetic, and passed his last days practising penance on the Candragiri hill at Śravanabelgola in south Karnāṭaka.