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Epigraphic Soarces of History
JAINA EPIGRAPHY--1
Prof. P. B. Desai
Vast and varied is the Jaina epigrapbic literature. Its antiquity goes back to the centuries before the advent of Christianity. Jaina inscriptions are found in almost all parts of India, in the North, South, East and West. They are engraved on the rocks of hills, slabs of stone, copper plates and pedestals of images. The scripts cmployed are different and varying according to the age and the region. Their languages are many, such as Sanskrit, Prakrit, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu. As for their dimensions, they range from simple names of devotees or pilgrims to lengthy descriptions of prominent personages including teachers and pontiffs, running into several pages. Some of the records offer excellent specimens of prose and poetic compositions. All these records are highly useful for reconstructing the illuminating history of this pervasive religion with its philosophy and ethics.
Outstanding among the early epigraphs of North India is the famous gratis inscription of st-arda, the lord of Kalinga. Inscribed in a cavity in the Udayagiri Hill near Bhubaneswar in Orissa, this record has revealed for the first time the existence of a unique emperor of Jaina persuasion who belonged to the महा-मेघवाहन family of the oat clan and flourished in the second or first century B.C. Besides being an implicit adherent of Jainism, artan was its enthusiastic supporter and contributed for its prosperity. He brought back the Jaina image formerly snacthed away by a king of the Nanda dynasty from Kalinga. He excavated caves for the Jaina monks in the कुमारीपर्वत, i.c. खंडगिरि hill and also built a monastery.
The epigraph concludes with the significant words: "The prince of welfare, king of prosperity, mendicant monarch, ruler of piety, supremely triumphant is he, the glorious emperor ara".
arca's qucen was also an ardent follower of Jainism. The following inscription caused to be engraved by her in the Manchapuri cave in the Udayagiri Hill stands testimony to her picty and devotion to the faith.
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