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Sallek hanã in Practice
19
of the mountain to practice “ tapas-samadhi”. He perform. ed penance on the high expanse of the cold rocks, quitted the body and accomplished samadhi. Mention is made at the end of the inscription that “in course of time, seven hundred Rșis similarly accomplished samadhi”. The inscription opens with a praise to Venerable Vardhamana, as the giver of the holy faith and one who had attained perfect bliss as the Arhat; as one who by his supreme merit acquired the name of Tīrthankara and whose creed had spread to the world, Bhadrabahu is described as a svåmi whose line had been rendered illustrious by a succession of great men tracing their decent from the venerable supreme Rși Gautama-gañadhara whose immediate disciples were Lohārya, Jambu, Vişnudeva, Aparājita, Govardhana, Bhadrabahu, Vişākha, Prosthila. Kịttikārya, Jayanāma, Siddhartha, Dhịtişeņa, Buddhila and other teachers. This inscription is on a rock to the south of the Pārsvanātha temple on the Chandragiri or Chikka-betta. 1 Though this inscription does not mention the name of Candragupta, two others which are just near it state that Bhadrabāhu and Candragupta were “twin munis” (munindrayugma)". These inscriptions are of about 650 A. D. There are two other inscriptions of about 900 A. D. on the bank of the river Kāvuri near Seringapatam which describe the summit of Kalabappa (i. c. Chandragiri Hill) as being hallowed by the foot.prints of the two great sages Bhadrabahu and Candragupta.3
Prof. S. R. Sharma accepts the historicity of this event and states, “The conclusion of the late Dr. V. A. Smith, regarding the plausibility of the persistent tradition about Candragupta Maurya having accompanied Bhadrabahu (the last of the Jaina śruta kevalins ) to Mysore and died there by Sallekhanā may be accepted without much ado.” He has
1. Epigraphia Carnāțicā, Vol. II, Ins. 1.
2. Ibid., Vol. II, Ins. 17 and 18 (3). Figures in brackets refer to the numbers of the same inscriptions in the revised edition
3. Ibid., Vol. XII, Ins. 147 and 148.
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