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THE EVIDENCE OF TRADITION. 9 in the spirit of pioneers breaking new ground and planning out new foundations. Nandyāla otherwise called Dommara Nandyala' on the banks of the river Pinākini is one such colony. It lay in the neighbourhood of Hindu habitations, of people following Vaidica Dharma. The Jaina munis arrived there, cleared .the jungle, marked out a plot of elevated ground for their palli, established their deity on it and settled down to their daily routine of study, meditation and sādhana. They seem to have tilled the soil (a point in which they assimilated themselves more to the followers of the Vaidica Dharma) and followed their ideals of life unmolested by their neighbours. Yet, it was definitely recorded in the tradition of Nandyāla that their faith was peculiar, as also their manners and general method of life. It is worthy of remark that these followers of the digambara tradition in Nandyāla covered themselves with leaves (which corresponded to Nārachūralu of the early Hindu settlers in the South Indian āsramas). This peace and quiet, this undisturbed concentration on the realisation of ideals, this atmosphere of pure study led to great intellectual power and achievement. The Jaina munis became masters oithe arts and sciences, great scholars in medicine and magic, "conning" searchers of the heavens, the makers of logic, philosophy and literature. Such achievement characterises one of the early Īchāryas of the Jaina tradition, viz., Kundakunda who, according
