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13. JAINISM AND OTHER FAITES
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The Bilhari inscription of Prabodhaśiva at Chandrehe and another record of his discovered at Gurgi, in Rewa State, throw light on an influential order of Saiva monks known as the Mattamayūra family, who propagated the faith in many parts of western and central India from about the ninth to the eleventh century. Prabodhaśiva who founded the Chandrehe monastery was a disciple of Praśāntasiva. The latter built a hermitage ( asrama, siddhasthāna), on the banks of the Soņa river at the foot of the Bhramara mountain, and a retreat for the practice of austerities (tapahsthāna) on the Ganges, which was held in high esteem by the people of Benares who were devout worshippers of Siva. Praśāntasiva is called the ornament of the Mattamayūra family in the Gurgi inscription, and was the disciple of Prabhāvasiva. The latter was induced to settle in the Cedi country by Yuvarājadeva I and was presented with a Matha built at an enormous cost (ananta-dhana-pratistham). Similarly, Lakşmaņarāja, who gave the Vaidyanātha monastery to Hrdayasiva, is described as having brought the sage .by manifesting his devotion to him by means of presents sent through honest messengers. The services of the Mattamayūra monks appear to have been freely requisitioned by the Cedi kings, who placed rich mathas at their disposal for the propagation of the Saiva faith.
Prabhāvasiva was the disciple of Sikhāśiva or Cūdāśiva, who, according to the Chandrehe inscription, was the disciple of Purandara of the holy Mattamayūra family, the preceptor of kings'. The latter may be said to have initiated the activities of the Mattamayūra organisation; and to judge from the succession of teachers and disciples, he must have lived not later than the end of the ninth century. An inscription found at Ranod or: Narod in Gwalior State, about half-way between Jhansi and
and assigned on palaeographic grounds to the end of the tenth or the beginning of the eleventh century, gives some information about this distinguished teacher. A king named Avantivarman, who visited Purandara at Upendrapura (Uņdor), and was initiated by him in the Saiva faith, persuaded the sage to migrate to his kingdom; and there in the city of Mattamayūra, Purandara founded a Matha and another establishment at Ranipadra identified with Ranod. Ranipadra seems to have been a religious centre as it is called a tapovana, also a Yatyāśrama in the Ranod inscription (vv. 15, 17 59.). There still exists an old building at Ranod, with an open cloister in front of it with rooms at each end, which most probably served the purpose of
Banerji (op. cit.),
1 The inscriptions of Prabodhaśiva are edited and translated in
App. C. 2 Ep. Ind. Vol. I, p. 351 ff.
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