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12: Śramana, Vol 64, No. III, July-Sept. 2013
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The early prescriptive scriptures on the movement of Jain monks also support the notion of a migration route along the coast. In the Acaranga-Sutra (II.3.1,2) it stresses that a monk should remain stationary during the four months of the monsoon or rainy season and engage in a life of constant wandering for the remaining eight months. While moving, a monk must be extremely cautious not to inflict injury on any living thing. As a result, monks are discouraged from walking on grass and traversing through dense forests. Monks are also advised not to engage in worldly affairs during their mendicancy. For example, they should avoid traveling through politically unstable regions and also avoid revealing particular information to strangers about the towns through which they have traveled. There are also a number of prescriptions regarding travel by boat." Dixit notes that if a monk is travelling by boat and the boatmen and his fellow travelers ask him to help maneuver the craft, "even at the risk of being thrown out into the water," he should refuse. What is gleaned from these sections of the Acaranga-Sotra is that during the early period of Jainism monks were quite mobile. However, this movement was limited by the concern for the life of other beings. Movement by watercraft eliminates the concerns of trampling small creatures under foot. Therefore, it is quite possible that the earliest Jain migrants traveled to South India along the coasts and river-ways.
As noted above, during his time as a wandering ascetic, Mahāvīra is said to have visited many cities in the modern states of eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal. This area roughly corresponds to the Ganga River Valley. Moving south from Patna (ancient Patalipura) in Bihar, the group would have traveled through the modern states of Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. In order to assess the credibility of this hypothesized migration route along the eastern littoral, it is necessary to examine the archaeological evidence in closer detail.
V. Archaeological Evidence for an Eastern Migration Route South Orissa
If one were to travel directly south from the ancient Jaina city of Patalipura (modern Patna, Bihar) one would reach the coast at Puri, Orissa. Therefore, it is quite significant on Udaigiri hill, just south of the Mahanandi River and about 60 km north of Puri, is the famous inscription of Mahāmeghavahana Khāravela at the Baä Häthigumphä ('Big Elephant Cave'). Detailed analysis of this inscription by Sashi Kant suggests a date of c. 172 BCE." Within the inscription there are numerous references to Jainism.84 Most predominant is the invocation at the beginning of the inscription: "Namo Ariharhtanarh Namo sava-Sidhanamh." This is reminiscent of the first two lines of the Namokar mantra or Pañca-namaskara hymn of the Jains. Kant contends that this inscription is "the earliest preserved record for this hymn in its traditional form." This fact, along with the notation of dates in V.N. (Vikram Nirvana, i.e. Mahāvīra Era) and the record of donations and associations with Jains and Jain forms of worship confirm beyond doubt that Khāravela was a Jain as well as a great patron of Jainism.
Aside from the famous Hathigumphä inscription, there are also a number of other Jain inscriptions at Udaigiri hill dating between the 2nd century BCE and 10 century CE." According to Dundas, although the architectural remains in Orissa suggest the continued presence of Jains until c. 16" century, the "region's contribution to the historical development of Jainism remained comparatively minor."
