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: Śramana, Vol 58, No. 4/October-December 2007
For the period under discussion we find the activities of some Jaina Acāryas in western India. The earliest reference to Jainism seems to be that of Neminatha, the 22nd Tarthankara. He was born at Dvaravati (present-day famous Dwarka Tīrtha) to king Samudravijaya and queen Śivadevī. It is said that the spread of Jaina faith in western
India was started from the time of Neminatha as the scene of his renunciation was laid on mount Girnara.2
Activities of Jaina Acāryas
Coming to the period under review we see some activities of few Jaina Acāryas as namely Mallavādīsūri, Siddhasena Divākara, Nāgārjuna, Pādaliptasūri, Vajrabhūti and Ārya Khaputa. All these Acāryas either were hailed from Gujarat or were associated for their activities with Western India. Of these Nagarjuna was born in Gujarat. Pādaliptācārya visited Dhankpuri (present-day Dhanka in Rajkot district) and had a dialogue with Nagarjuna. The modern Palitana near Bhavanagar is named after Pādaliptasūri. Nāgarjuna had then installed the image of Pārsvanatha on the bank of river Sedhi and founded the Tirtha Stambhanaka (present Thamana in Kheda district). Acarya Vajrabhuti was from Bharukaccha (modern Bharucha). He was the teacher of queen Padmavatī, wife of Nahapana, the western kṣatrapa ruler of the kṣaharata family. Both Siddhasena and Mallavādī belonged to Gujarat. While Mallavādī hailed from Valabhi (the known seat of learning in Western India), Siddhasena's birthplace is not known. Arya Khaputa lived in pre-kṣatrapa period and was native of Bharukaccha. Though all these activities of the Jainācāryas show the popularity of the Jaina faith. The archaeological evidence in support is slender, a factor, which seemingly goes against this firmly, rooted belief. Nevertheless, the literary sources do help us in proving the spread of Jainism in this region.
Bifurcation of Jaina Religion
The origin of two sects, namely, Śvetambara and Digambara, of the Jaina religion took place in Gujarat according to one Jaina
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