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TULSI-PRAJNA
led to an exalted place along with frere and arafa.
The Jaina inscriptions of Fufen generally commence with the following Sanskrit verse in praise of the जिनशासन.
श्रीमत् परमगम्भीर-स्याद्वादमोघलांछनम् ।
जीयात् त्रैलोक्यनाथस्य शासनम्, जिन-शासनम् ॥१॥ "May the doctrine of Lord Jina be victorious-the doctrine which is the commandment of the overlord of three words and which bears the glorious and supremely profound Fara (theory of may-be) as its infallible characteristic mark".
A good number of inscriptions are devoted to the descriptions of Jaina scholars and teachers belonging to various monastic orders and their geneological accounts in Sanskrit. Here is a specimen passage praising a precepter.
"His disciple, an emperor of philosophy, lord of great fame overspreading the whole sea-girt earth, a lion adorned with the pearls scattered in splitting the frontal globes of the rutting elephants, the five senses, honoured by the learned, favourite of सरस्वती, was कलधौतनन्दी Munipa".
A profound scholar and adept in polemic contests the renowned teacher Samantabhadra, is described in the following speech attribu. ted to bim in an epigraph. 10
"At first the drum was beaten by me within the city of arzforga; afterwards in the country of मालवा, सिन्धु and ठक्क, at कांचीपुर and at fast. I have now arrived at #TET® which is full of learned men, profound in scholarship and crowded with Pcole. Desirous of disputation, O King, I exhibit the sporting of a tiger". “When the disputant ant stands in court, Oking, even the tongue of a#27, i.e. f414, who talks clearly and skilfully, turns back quickly towards the nape of the neck. What hope can there be for others ?”
Spoor here is a renowned sacred centre visited by thousands of Jaipa devotees from all parts of India. But few are aware of the fact that there flourished in the South another holy place that equalled, nay, even excelled to date in sanctity and eminence.
Explorations carried on at Koppal during the past years have revealed the importance of the place as a supremely sacred resort of the Jains. According to the testimony of epigraphs and tradition, Kopana was adorned by an exceedingly large number of Jaina temples and shrines. The veracity of this statement is brought home to the
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