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The history of the
Digambara jain sect after Mahavira can generally be divided into the
follwing four periods:
1. The first five or six centuries after Bhagavan Mahavira. i.e. the
period between Mahavira and the beginning of the Christian era.
2. The eight centuries from the beginning of the Christian era (may be
called the period of the Acharyas).
3. The period of the dominance of Bhattarakas (in south India),
up to the 17th/18th century.
4. The period of reformation from 17th/18th century to the present
day.
1. The First
Six centuries
The first five or six centuries in the
history of the Digambara sect are hidden in obscurity. We know almost
nothing about the history of this sect as a separate Jain Church in these
centuries. (The reason most probably was that the two Churches had not
till then separated, and as such they had no separate history.) The
Digambaras unlike the Svetambaras have not written any history of their
sect, and all that we have are some lists of successive patriarchs. Not
much reliance can be placed on these lists for they were compiled many
centuries later. In fact the first list that we possess is the one
inscribed in Sravana Belgola in about AD 600, that is almost eleven
centuries after Mahavira.
This Sravana-Belgola succession list is as follows:
Mahavira-Gautama-Lohacharya-Jambu- Vishnudeva- Aparajita-
Govardhana-Bhadrabahu- Vishakha- Prosthila - Karttikarya (Kshattrikarya)-Jaya- Nama (Naga)-
Siddhartha- Dhritisena- Buddhila, etc.
It will be noticed that the difference with the Shvetambara list starts
almost from the very beginning. The name of Gautama as successor of
Mahavira is not mentioned in the Shvetambara list as given in the Kalpa-Sutra.
In fact the Kalpa Sutra explicitly mentions that only two Ganadharas,
Indrabhuti and Sudharma, survived Mahavira, and it was Sudharma who
succeeded Mahavira as head of the Church and no other Ganadhara left any
spiritual descendants. Indrabhuti who was a Gautama by gotra is the
person mentioned in the Digambara list as the first successor of Mahavira.
Both the sects are in agreement in asserting that Indrabhuti Gautama was a
kevalin, but the Svetambaras deny that he ever headed the Church, or left
any disciples.
The confusion is carried on to the next name also. Many Digambara lists
including the Sravana Belgola inscription say that Gautama's successor as
the head of the Church was Lohacharya. The name Lohacharya is not known to
the Svetambaras. Other Digamabara lists (e.g. the one in the Harivansha
Purana) mention Sudharma as the successor of Gautama. Fortunately,
Lohacharya and Sudharma are the names of the same person. This is
explicitly stated in Jambuddvita Pannati.
In the Digambara list Lohacharya's and in the Shvetambara list Sudharma's
successor is Jambusvami. Here for the first and last time the Digambara
and Shvetambara lists agree in regard to the order of succession. (Digambaras
and Svetambaras both agree that after Mahavira, only three persons,
namely, Gautama, Sudharma and Jambu became kevalins.)The next three names
in the Sravana Belgola list (AD 600) are Vishnudeva, Aparajita and
Govardhana. Later Digambara works such as the Harivanshi Purana (late 8th
century) include the name of Nandimitra between Vishnudeva and Aparajita.
The present day Digambaras accept this later list of four names. However,
none of these names are known to the Svetambaras. They have instead the
following three names: Prabhava, Shayyambna (or Shayyambhava) and
Yashobhadra. Shayyambhava as we have seen was the author of the
Dashavaikalika, one of the most important texts of the Svetambaras, but
the Digambaras neither know his name, nor recognize the book.
The successor of Govardhana in the Digambara list is Bhadrabahu. In the
Shvetambara list, the corresponding place is occupied by two persons:
Bhadrabahu and Sambhutavijaya who were joint patriarchs of the Church.
Bhadrabahu is an important name for the Digambaras. It was Bhadrabahu who
had according to the Sravana Belgola inscription (AD 600) had predicted a
famine in Ujjayinai which led the Jain community there to leave for South
India under the leadership of one Prabhachandra (or, according to the
later versions, he himself led the Jain community (of Magadh?) to South India). The difficulty can be solved if we
accept that it was another Bhadrabahu who had taken the community there.
This second Bhadrabahu appears as the 27th acharya in the Digambara list
(the Svetambaras do not know him) and was an Upangi i.e. knower of one
Anga only, and not a Shrutakevali like Bhadrabahu I, who knew all the 12
Angas. Bhadrabahu II died 515 years after the Nirvana (i.e. in 12 BC) and
we know that he belonged to
South India, for the great Kundakunda who undoubtedly belonged to South
India calls himself the pupil of Bhadrabahu.1
The matter is slightly confusing here for according to the pattavalis of
the Digambaras,
Kundakunda was not the first but the fourth acharya after Bhandabahu II.
The actual list is as follows: 1, Bhadrabah II. 2. Guptigupta. 3.
Maghanandi. 4. Jinacandra I. 5. Kundakunda.
Perhaps the solution of this problem is that all these four persons from
Guptigupta to Kundakunda were pupils of Bhadrabahu II, and became acahryas
one after another.
Now to go back to Bhadrabahu I, he was as we know the last Shrutakevali.
The acharyas who came after him were dashapurvis that is, they knew the 11
Angas and the 10 Purvas. Their names were:
1. Visakha
2 Prosthila
3. Kshatria
4. Jayasena
5, Nagasena
6. Siddhartha
7. Dhritisena
8. Vijaya
9. Buddhilinga
10. Deva I
11. Dharasena.
Except for their names we know nothing about them.
They were followed by ekadashangis, who knew only the eleven Angas. Their
names were:
1. Nakshatri
2. Jayapalaka
3. Pandava
4. Dhruvasena and
5. Kansa.
Then came the upangis, who knew only one Anga. They were
1. Subhadra
2. Yashobhadra
3. Bhadrabahu II and
4. Lohacarya II.
Lastly there were the ekangis. They had only fragmentary knowledge of the
canon. Their names were:
1. Arhadvali
2. Maghanandi
3. Dharasena
4. Pushpadanta and
5. Bhutavali.
It is from the period of the ekangis, that is , Arhadvali, Maghanandi,
Kharasena, Pushpadanta and Bhutavali onwards that we get some material
facts about the Digambara acharyas. All these five were perhaps the
disciples of Bhadrabahu II.
It is said that it was Arhadvali who had divided the Original sect (the
Mula Sangha) into four different sanghas, namely, Sinha, Nandi, Sena and
Deva."This we learn from the inscriptions dated 1398 and 1432, and
from the Nitisara composed by Indranandin between 1524 and 1565 and from
the pattavalis of the last century. It is, of course, not possible to say
whether this story of Arhadvali dividing the Mula Sangha into four
branches is correct or not. None of these branches exist, and even the
first mention of this division is almost thirteen hundred years after the
alleged event.
It is said that Dharasena, the third among the ekangis named above was the
last master3 of the Astanga Mahanimitta the "eightfold Mahanimittas."
What these Mahanimitta were, is not clear, but they seem to have something
to do with astrology or clairvoyance, for it was with this power that
Bhadrabahu had predicted the 12 year famine in Ujjayini as we know from
the Sravana Belgola inscription (AD 600):
"Bhadrabahu-svamina Ujjayinyam astanga-mahanimitta-tatvajnena-
trailokya- darshina, nimittena dvadasha samvatshara-kala vaisamyam
uplabhya." (By Bhadrabahu-svamin, who possessed the knowledge of the Eight Mahanimittas, the seer of the past, present and
future, was foretold by the signs a dire calamity in Ujjayini, lasting for
a period of 12 years).
Dharasena also had a partial knowledge of the canonical works like the
Angas, Purvas, etc. According to the legend, Dharasena lived in Girnar
Saurastra. He sent a message to the Digambaras of South India warning them
against the disappearance of the knowledge of the canons. The monks of
Dakshinpatha then sent two intelligent persons to Dharasena. Dharasena
passed on his knowledge to these two persons whose names were Pushpa Danta
and Bhutavali.
These two then returned home and wrote an important work Shat-Khandagama-
Sutra based on that teaching. This work thus is revered among the
Digambaras almost as a canonical work.4 The work was completed on the
fifth of the bright fortnight of Jyestha: and that day is thus celebrated
every year as Shruta panchami.
2. The Period of the Acharyas
The eight centuries from the beginning of the Christian era is
generally called the period of great jain Acharyas as
Kundakunda, Umaswami, Samantabhadra, etc.
Kundakunda: Kundakunda, the great acharya and prolific writer of books on Jainism was
living in the first century AD. Kundakunda wrote in Prakrit
and this would be a language quite unfamiliar to the local people other
than the learned among the Jains. In fact he is venerated almost as
a Ganadhara, that is as if he was as knowledgeable as one of the immediate
disciples of Mahavira. As time passed he gained in miraculous powers, and
in an inscription at Sravana Belgola dated AD 1398, it is said that
when Kundakunda walked his feet would be four fingers above the ground.
A village called Konda Kumda or Konka Kunda few kilometers
from the Guntakkal railway station is said to be the place where he
was born. Some claim that Kundakunda belonged to Karnataka, while others
suggested that he lived in Kanchi, because his place of work was said to
have been in that area. In fact, there is also some difficulty about his
exact name. He is said to have had the following names: Vakragriva,
Elacarya Gridhrapincha, Padmanandi and Kundakunda, but so far as the first
four names are concerned, there have been other ancient Jain authors with
the same or similar names in the later centuries. Thus it will be safer to
call him by the name of Kundakunda only.
Umaswami or Umasvati: The
most celebrated acharya among the Digambaras after Kundakunda was Umasvami.
In the South Indian inscriptions he is mentioned immediately after
Kundakunda, which implies that he was a disciple of Kundakunda.
Umasvami had the epithet Gridhrapincha or Gridhrapiccha, “ Vulture's
feather”, which Kundakunda had too. According to most of the Digambara
pattavalis, he lived from about AD 135 to 219.
The Svetambaras on the other hand think that his name was Umasvati. He was
so called because his mother's name was Uma Vatsi, and his father's
Svati.1I The name of his teacher was Ghosanandi Kshamashramna. About his
period the Shvetambara traditions differ, but in any case none of them is
in agreement with the Digambara tradition.
It is not certain that he belonged to South India, for he wrote his great
work Taftvarthadhigama Sutra "the Manual for the Understanding of the
True Nature of Things" in Pataliputra. This manual in Sanskrit
is recognized as an authority by both Digambaras and Svetambaras.
Winternitz wrote, “Even at the present day (this work) is read by
all Jains in private houses and temples. By reading this book once
though one is said to acquire as much merit as by fasting for one day. The
logic psychology, cosmography, ontology and ethics of the Jain, are
treated in these Sutras and in the commentary appended by the author
himself, in the closest possible agreement with the Canon, more
specially with Anga VI (Jnatadharmakathah). Even today it may still
serve as an excellent summary of Jains dogmatic. It is true that the
commentary, which expresses views that are not in harmony with those
of the Digambaras is not recognized by this sect as the work of
Umasvami. It is doubtful, therefore, whether the Digambaras are justified
in claiming him as one of their own.”12 However, Umasvami is an important
writer for the Digambaras. They honour him as an equal of the Shrutakeavlins
of old (Shrutkevaldesya) and would not like to SUI render him to the
Svetambaras.13 The Svetambaras also greatly respect Umasvati, and give him the
epithets puravit knower of ancient texts and vacakaearya "master
reciter".
Umasvami or Umasvali is said to have been a prolific writer and said to
have written about 500 books. Very few of these are known today. The
Digambars think that the 14 Pujaprakarna Prasamarati, and
Jambudvipasamasa are his works.
Among the early commentators of Umasvami's Tatvartha- dhigama-Sutra was Siddhasena
Divakara. He too like Umasvami is regarded by both Digambaras and Svetambaras
as one of their own.14 He is perhaps the last acharya to be claimed by
both the scats. However, his name does not appear in the Digambaras pattavalis
of south India).
Samantabhadra: According to a pattavalli given in an inscription of
1163 AD at Sravana Belgola, Umasvati's disciple was Balakapiccha, and
his disciple was Samantabhadra. He is also styled 'Svami' and
referred to with reverence by later acharyas. Digambaras place the
period in which he flourished as between AD 120 and 185. Samantabhadra
was definitely a Digambara. He wrote among other books, a commentary
of Umasvami's Tattvartha DhigamaSutra. The main part of the commentary
is no longer extant but the introductory part of the commentary exists.
It is known as Devagama-Sutra or Aptamimansa. The Jain philosophy of Syadvada
was, perhaps for the first time, fully explained in this book. The work was
therefore, discussed by non-Jain philosophers such as Kumarila (8th / 9th centuries
) and Vachaspatimishra respectively. Few Jain authors except Samantabhadra
and Akalanka have been found worthy of such notice by non-Jain philosophers.
Pujyapada
It is generally agreed that Pujyapada was the epithet of Devanandi.
He had is another epithet, Jinendrabuddhi. He is generally known for this
grammar called Jainendra Vyakarana. Vopadeva, in the 13th century,
mentions him among the eight great grammarians of the country.
Pujyayada had also written a commentary on Umasvami's work, called
Sarvarthasiddhi.
We come next to Akalanka with whom the period of the great Jain acharyas ends
in the Karnataka region. According to one of the pattavalis given above he was
the disciple of Pujayapada Devanandi. Apart from writing a
commentary called the Tattvartharajavarttika on the great work of
Umasvami, Akalanka wrote a number of works on logic, viz.,
Nyasavinischaya, Laghiyastarya, and Svarupasambodhana. He was thus
called a Master of Jain logic- Syadvada - Vidyapati. He as opposed, as stated
earlier, by Kumarila, the great philosopher of Brahmanical orthodoxy. Akalanka
wrote many other treatises also.
Thus beginning with the 1st century and up to the end of the 8th century, the
Jains of the Karnataka region produced a number of distinguished scholars.
Tamil Nadu: It has been surmised from the various references in the
Tamil literature that Jainism was quite important in Tamil Nadu in
the period 5th to 11th century. Jainism is not mentioned in the
Sangam literature (4th century AD), but mention of the people professing
Jainism is found in the two Tamil epics Silappadikaram and
Manimekhalai. Both these epics belong to the 6th or 7th century
AD. Manimekhalai is a Buddhist work and refers to the Jains as Ni (r) granthas.
It gives a reasonably good exposition of the Jain religious philosophy.
But naturally, being a Buddhist work refutes it. Silappadikaaram is the
story of a wife's devotion to her husband. It mentions Uraiyur a Chola capital,
as a center of Jainism. Both the classics relate that the Ni (r) granths
lived outside the town in their cool cloisters. The walls of which were surrounded
by small flower gardens. They also had monasteries for nuns. This description
of Jain monasteries leads one to doubt its authenticity, for the Jains
unlike the Buddhists do not favor living in monasteries. Also since the Jains
of south India were Digambaras, there should not have been nuns among them,
to say nothing of there being monasteries for them.
Another Tamil work, the Pattinapalai, speaks of the Jain and Buddhist temples
being in one quarter of the city of Pugar, while in another quarter the Brahmans
with plaited hair performed sacrifices and raised volumes of smoke.
These references show that the number of Jains in Tamil Nadu was sufficiently
large to be noticed in the popular literature of the period. One cannot
avoid the suspicion, however, that there was a tendency on the part of these
writers to mix up the Jains and the Buddhists. But Hiuen Tsang who was in Kanchi
in the middle of the 7th century also reported that he saw numerous Nirgranthas
at this place: and since he is not likely to have confused between the
Buddhists and the Nirgranthas, is certain, that the Jain population of
Tamil Nadu at that time was quite large.
The Jain population of Tamil Nadu was apparently larger in the 8th and 9th century
than in the 7th century, for in the latter period there are very few Jain
inscriptions. Most of the inscriptions in Tamil (about 80 or so), belong
to the 8th and the 9th centuries, and these have been found mainly in
the Madurai Tirunelveli area. [In the Salem district also there
was a Jain temple or religious place in Tagdur (Dharmapuri) in AD
878.] Thus Jains were quite numerous in Tamil Nadu in the 9th
century. Thereafter there was perhaps a slow reduction in the Jain
population.
Many large and small Jain temples still survive in Tamil Nadu.. Two of these
are important Jain centers even today. One is a Tirumalaipuram, and the other
is a Tiruparuttikunram. The latter is a suburb of Conjeeveam, about three kilometers
from the center of the town, and is in fact still called Jain Kanci. The
presiding deity here is Vardhamana who is also styled trailokya
nathasvami. The temple is one of the biggest in the taluk.
It is adorned with artistic splendor, and it has a large number of icons
of the Jain pattern. From the inscriptions (about 17 in number) found
at this place it appears that it was built by the Chola emperors
Rajendra I (c. 1014-44) and Kulottunga I (c. 1070 -1120), and added
to by Rajendra III (c. 216-46). Later additions were made by the
Vijayanagar emperors Bukka II (in 1387-88) and Krishna Deva Raya (in
1518). There are some remarkable murals on the temple. These date
from the 16th and the 18th century.
The fact that this large and beautiful Jain temple is the heart of the Tamil
country was being adorned even in the 18th century proves that a sufficiently
numerous and prosperous Jain community existed in the part of the country
till then. Otherwise the temple could not have been maintained.
3 The period of Bhattaraks
(The Ninth to the Seventeenth Century in Karnataka)
This period was the most significant in the history of the Digambara sect
also called the period of Bhattarakas.. Throughout this long period
Jainism was a prominent religion of south India, and especially of
Karnataka. The Jains held important positions in the government. Much
of the commerce of the country was controlled by the Jains. All these
prosperous people spent lavishly for the construction of temples and monuments
of their religion. While the rulers spent their wealth in building the Hindu
temples at Ellora, Halevid, etc., the Jain commercial classes filled the region
with gigantic statues of Bahubali and Magnificent stambhas (towers) and temples.
Going by the number of the archaeological remains alone, it might be inferred
that some parts of Karnataka, specially the area round about Sravana Belagola,
and Karakal were entirely Jain areas.
The Bhattarakas could be compared with the abbots or Mahants of
monasteries, but in place of monasteries that do not exist in
Jainism, the Bhattarkas were the person who managed the temples and
also the estates endowed to the temples by the rulers, and the rich
devotees. Though these jobs were of a secular nature, the Bhattarakas
were actually religious persons. They were the religious leaders of
the community. Among the Svetambaras, such leadership was provided by the monks;
but on account of the rule of strict nudity, few people became monks among
the Digambaras, and the Bhattarakas thus necessarily had to assume this leadership.
Another important function that the Bhattarkas performed was to lead the
members of the community to various places of pilgrimage. The Bhattarakas were
not strictly munis or ascetics, and therefore they did not go about naked, as
Digambara munis were expected to live.
Then a new sect of yatis the Bhattarakas, started among the
Digambaras. The legend has no historic basis for the mention of the
Bhattarakas, is found in the 9th century in the Satkhandagamatika of
Virasena, but the system must have started much earlier. For even in
the inscriptions of the 5th century we find mention of the gifts of
land to Jain temples, and there must have been some body to manage
the properties so received.
The Digambara Jain Community was divided during this period into various sanghas
and ganas. The Sena gana and the Balatkara gana claimed that they belonged
to the Mula sangha. Similarly Mathura, Ladabagada, Bagada and Nanditata ganas
claimed kastha as their sangha. The kastha sangha is said to have been established
in 697 by Kumarasena in Nanditata (the present Nanded in Maharashtra).
On the other hand the documents of these four ganas prior to the 12th
century do not mention that they had any connection with the Kastha sangha. It
has been conjectured therefore that perhaps the sangha itself was formed
by the coming together of these four ganas.
All these speculations, however, are of little importance, for, the difference
between one gana and another was negligible. When we come to the exact
difference in the beliefs of the various ganas and sanghas, it appears that
they mainly lie in the matter of using the various kinds of pichchhis (sweeps)
by the monks and in nothing else. While the Sena gana and the Balatkara gana
prescribed the peacock's tail for their pichchhi, the Ladabagada and the Nanditata
prescribed the camara (yak's tail). The Mathura gana on the other hand
did not use any pichchhi at all. Schubring, however, mentions an important point,
that the kastha sangha allowed women also to take diksa. Perhaps
this has affected the praxis of the northern Digambaras, for the
Digambara Jains of northern India do allow the women at the present
time to become nuns. (The nuns are allowed a long piece of white
cloth to be worn as sadis. A Digambara nun does not expect to get
salvation in this birth. She only expects to go to heaven as a reward
for her religious life. When her allotted period of stay in heaven is
over, she would be born as a man. He can then try for the final
salvation.)
Rashtrakutas:
The Rashtrakutas ruled over a large area in the center of India for two centuries
beginning with the middle of the 8th century. One of the important patrons
of learning among them was Amoghavarsha Nripatunga (815-877). He was himself
a scholar, and wrote an important Kannada work on poetics. One of his ecpithets
was Atishayadhavala. Jinasena wrote the Jain Adipurana during his period.
The commentary on the certain parts of the Shatkhandagama was also perhaps
prepared during his period. This commentary is known as Jayadhavala.
It was during Amoghavarsha's time that Ugraditya wrote a treatise on medicine
called Kalyanakaraka. It is a voluminous work in Sanskrit containing 8,000
slokas. Ugraditya says that the original author of this work was Pujyapada,
and he had only revised and enlarged it.
Ugraditya divides the book in eight chapters, as was usual with other contemporary
Ayurvedic works. However his main attempt was to eliminate the use in
medicine of meat and other similar animal products and all types of intoxicants.
In other words, it prescribed only those medicines that a Jain could
safety take. The author refers to Agnivesha, Kashyapa and Charaka among the
ancient authors but does not mention Susruta or Nagar Juna. Mercury and other
metals are important ingredients medicine in the Kalyanakaraka.
Another scholar who flourished during this period was the Jain mathematician
Mahaviracharya, who wrote his Ganitasarasangraha 38 in c. 850. Mahavira
found out the rule for calculating the number of combinations of n things
taken r at a time.
A mathematical discovery of this period was the use of logarithms for calculations
with large numbers. These logarithms were with the bases 2, 3, and 4.
Reference to the use of logarithms occurs for the first time in the
Dhavala commentary mentioned above. Use of logarithms for the ease of
calculations with large numbers that occur in Jain cosmology,
continued at least for a hundred years, for Nemichandra at the end of
the tenth century mentions the rule of logarithm (which he called
ardhacchheda, i.e., logarithm at the base 2), as:
"The ardhachheda of the multiplier plus the ardhachheda of the
multiplicand is the ardhachheda of the product" Trilokasara,
Gatha 105)
Later Gangas: In the later centuries of Ganga rule in southern Karnataka
we see evidence of great material prosperity of the Jains. Epigraphic
records indicate that these rulers were all patrons of the Jains and
made grants to various Jain temples. Indeed, some of them might have
themselves become Jains. These were Nitimarga I (853-870), Nitimarga
II (907- 935), Marasinha III ((960-974), etc. In fact, Marasinha III
died by the Jain vow of starvation, known as Sallekhana in the
presence of Ajitasena Bhattaraka in AD 974.
Some ministers and generals of these Ganga rulers also were devout Jains and
spent large sums of money in building temples and other architectural monuments.
The 17 meter high statue of Bahubali was built at Sravana Belgola by Chamundaraya
in 983. Chamundaraya was the minister and general of Rachamalla, a king
of the Ganga dynasty.
Nemichandra, the famous Digambara scholar was a friend of this minister. Three
of Nemichandra's works are still considered quite important for the
Digambara sect. These are Trilokasara, Labdhisara and Gommatasara.
The first is a work on Jain cosmography. Nemichandra displayed his
mathematical talent in writing this book. The other two works are on
Jain philosophy. (All these three works of Nemichandra were
translated into Hindi prose by Todarmal of Jaipur, in the 18th century).
The Gangas ruled over south Karnataka from the fourth to the 10th century and
all through their period they were helpful towards the Jains.
Hoysalas:
Karnataka entered its period of artistic glory with the establishment of the
Hoysala dynasty in the 12th century. The capital of the Hoysalas was at Dorasamudra.
They attained great power under Vishucardhana (1111-52) and his grand
son Vira Ballala II. The last notable ruler of this dynasty was Vira Ballala
III. He sustained defeats at the hands of Kafur, the general of Ala-ud-din
Khailji, and finally perished in or about 1342.
The Hoysala kings built many beautiful temples in south Karnataka. These
temples are the glories of Indian art. While the kings built temples of
the Shiv and Vaishnava faiths, their ministers and the merchant
princes among their subjects built Jain temples. Ganga Raja, a
general and minister of Visuvardhana the greatest of the Hoysals,
built the Parshvantha basadi (basadi in Karnataka
means a Jain temple) at Chamarajanagar near Mysore. Gangaraja also built
the surrounding enclosure to the statue of Bahubali in Sravana
Belgola. In 1116 Hulla who was treasurer or bhandari for three
successive years, Hoysala rulers built the Chaturvinsati- Jinalaya
(also known as the Bhandari-basadi) in Sravana Belgola. Another
basadi in the vicinity is the Viraballabha- Jainalya built in honor
of the Hoysala king Viraballabha II by a merchant in 1176. We thus see
that all these dynasties that ruled over Karnataka were friendly to
the Jains.
Viyayanagara
Empire:
This empire was known among other things for the revival of Brahmanic learning
but if we go by the number of existing monuments spread throughout the
empire, it was also a period of great building activity of the Jains. In
fact the large building activity seen among the Jains was due to the fact
that the main commercial class of Karnataka, the Vira Banajigas had become ardent
Jains.
If we take the period from the 10th to the early 17th century, we find
that the main center of constructional activity of the Jains in the
first half of this period was Sravana Belgola, but by the second half
of this period the center had shifted westwards towards Karkala,
almost on the sea-coast near Mangalore. Karkala itself was the seat
of the Bhairarasa Wodeyars, a powerful
Jain family (of which no representatives are now left.) The second largest
image of Gommatadeva (or Bahubali) about 12.5 metres high was built
here in AD 1431. It was built by Vira Pandya Bhairarasa Wodeyar. At
Haleangadi, close by is the finest Jain stambha in the district. It
has a monolithic shaft 33 feet (10 metres) high in eight segments,
each beautifully and variously ornamented, supporting an elegant
capital and topped by a stone shrine containing a statue. The total
height is about 50 feet (15 metres)".
Another very large Bahubali statue was built in Yenur (or Venur) now a village
in the Mangalore Taluk. The statue is 37 feet (11.1 metres) high and was built
in 1603. At that time the place must have been quite important, for besides
this statue there are numerous other Jain remains there.
The place nearby which became the center of Jainism in South India in the period
13th to the early 17th century is Mudabadri, about 16 kilometers from Karkala.
The place is so important that it is described as Jain-Kasi. This Jain center
is said to have been started near about AD 714 when a monk from Sravana
Belgola established the first Jain temple, the Parshvanatha-basadi here.
The place became important after 1220, when an important acharya
Charukirti Panditcharya arrived here from Sravana Belgola.
From then on wards till the early 17th century this whole area was a scene
of large constructional activity of the Jains. The architectural style
adopted was also peculiar. As Fergusson remarks, "When we
descend the Ghats into Kanada, or the Tulava country, we come on a
totally different state of matters. Jainism is the religion of the
country, and all or nearly all the temples belong to this sect, but
their architecture is neither the Dravidian style of the south, nor that
of northern India, and indeed is not known to exist anywhere else in India proper,
but recurs with all its peculiarities in Nepal."
Most of the Jain religious buildings in and near about Mudabadri were
built by the wealthy merchants of the area. The thousand pillared
basadi or temple, known as the Tribhuvana tilaka chuda-mani' was
built by a group of Jain merchants (settis) in 1430, and this is the
most magnificent Jain shrine in south India.
Mudabadri temples also became depositories of Jain literature. Indeed the famous
commentaries Dhavala and Jayadhavala were found only in the Siddhanta-basadi
here.As the Mudabadri Karkala area, also known as the Tuluva country,
became more and more important, the influence of Jainism declined in
the rest of South India. The one reason for this was the revival of
the Brahmanical religion under the kings of the Vijayanagar empire.
The Vijayanagara kings were not against the Jains. In fact, they were
always consoling just when any civil dispute arose between the Jains
and others. Saletore cites two cases, one in 1363 and the other
in 1368, where the disputes between the two antagonistic groups of Jains and
non-Jains were amicably settled by the Vijayanagara rulers. These settlements
were duly recorded in stone inscriptions. The cause of the decline was
thus not the hostility of the kings. It has to be looked some where else.
Of all the places in South India, it was Karnataka where Jainism was strongest.
Two things happened there, which in the course of a few centuries, reduced
the influence of Jainism in the greater part of the region. Ultimately by
the 16th century its stronghold was left only in one corner of the region. That
is in the Tuluva country, round about Karkala, Mudabadre, etc. The first
of this was the rise of the Vira-Shiv or the Lingayat religion under
the leadership of Basava in the 12 century.
The second and perhaps the decisive reason was the conversion of the main mercantile
class the Vira Banajigas from Jainism to Vira-Shaivism.
Jainism, therefore, slowly became extinguished in south India, leaving comparatively
small pockets of devotees in the centers, which were great at one time.
These were, for instance, Sravana Belgola and Mudabadre. Jain religious groups
have survived there to this day.
The indigenous Jains who are left in South India today are endogamous
clans and so do not intermarry with the Jains of North India. They
are all Digambaras and are dividend into four main castes, viz.
Setavala (not found in Karnataka), Chaturtha, Panchama, and Bogara or
Kasara, and three small castes, Upadhyayas, Kamboja and Harada. Their
priests are Brahmans.
"Each of the four main castes in the South is led by its own
spiritual leader (bhattaraka), who occupying intermediary positions
between ascetics and laymen can individually resolve disputes between
the members of the caste and expel from it whom so ever he considers
it necessary." The Chaturthas are mainly agriculturists, the
Setavalas are agriculturists as well as tailors, the Kasaras or the Bogaras are coppersmiths, and the members of the Panchama
caste follow any of these professions.
The
Digambaras of North India
Thanks to the numerous stone inscriptions and religious literature
found in South India, more or less a continuous history of the
Digambaras Jains can be traced from the 5th to 17th century AD. We
know much less about the Digambara communities in the north during
the corresponding period. As stated earlier, most of the statues of
the Tirthankaras that have been found in the 4th and 5th century in
the area now covered by Uttar Pradesh, were nude. The majority of the Jains
in this area today are Digambaras. We may thus conclude that when finally the
great schism occurred (and this might have been a gradual process) the
Jains of north India found themselves in the Digambara camp. Later
monuments also support the view that most of the Jains of eastern and
northern Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa were also Digambaras.
Mention has already been made of the Digambara images found in Bihar
(12th century), and Orissa (11th to 15th centuries). Much more
important is the Jain group of temples in Khajuraho (10th-11th
century). These are all Digambara temples and must have been built by the
rich merchants living in the capital city of Chandela Rajput kings of Bundelkhand.
One temple in this group, that of Parshvanatha, has even been compared
favorably with the renowned Kandarya Mahadev temple of this place. Another
important group of Digambara Temples is in Deogarh in Jhansi district. The
Jain merchants of Bundelkhand were perhaps as well looked after by the Chandela
rulers as their counterparts were in Karnataka. A few Kegambara
inscriptions have been found in Gwalior also.
Chittorgarh, like Khajuraho, was a stronghold of the Digambaras in the
12th and 13th century. This is proved by a number of Jain
inscriptions found there. Four of them are by one Shaha Jijaka.
It was he who had raised the famous Kirtistambha of Chittorgarh in
1300 AD Shaha Jijaka claimed to belong to the Kundakundanvyaya. This
proves that not only was the tower raised by a Digambara merchant,
but also that the practice of claiming descent from the line of Kundakunda,
a practice quite common in South India, had spread to north by the 13th
century.
However, the fact remains that it is difficult to build up a history of Digambaras
of north India on the basis of the available epigraphic evidence. The number
of inscriptions found so far are too few. In the five volumes Jain Shila Lekha
Sangraha, a Digambara collection, the number of Digambara inscriptions recorded
from north India after the 6th century would no be more than 20.
There is a paucity of literary sources also. The Digambaras of North
India, unlike their counterparts in the South, composed very few
works at least up to the 17th century. In fact in the early medieval
period there was perhaps only one important Digambara writer in north
India. Harisena who wrote is quite informative about the social and
religious condition of India of this period. As mentioned earlier,
the Shvetambara sect according to Harisena originated in Valabhi.
In the absence of sufficient epigraphic and literary evidence, one has to depend
on the legendary materials for reconstructing the history of the Digambaras
of north India.
The Digambaras, unlike the Svetambaras did not break up into
large number of groups and sub-groups in north India. Most of them
belonged to the Bisapanthis sect. The origin of this sect is not clearly known.
"It probably originated in the 13th century. Glasenapp remarks that
one Vasantakirti held the view that so long as the monks lived among
the people, they should wear one garment. The believers of this
opinion were called Vishvapanthis. This was corrupted into
Bisapanthis. The monks of this pantha live in a cloister under the
headship of a Bhattaraka. They install the image of Tirthankaras
along with that of Kshetrapala deities such as the Bhairavas and others.
They worship the images by offering fruits, flowers and other foodstuffs.
Whatever might be the origin of the Bisapanthis, the descrition of their religious
practices as given above is substantially correct. In fact the majority
of the Digambara Jains of northern India followed these practices. As the
days passed the Bhattarakas, who managed the properties of the temples and monasteries
became more and more powerful. The popularity of the Kshetrapala deities
(who for all practical purposes were folk Gods) continued to increase. A protest
against such laxity in the Jain religion which by its nature is puritan was
inevitable. Such a movement started some time in the 17th century in the Agra
region. One of the leaders of this protest was Banarasidasa Jain. In
course of time the movement grew stronger, and it was named
Terapantha. According to Bakhtaram Shah, an 18th century
author who was himself against this movement, the Terapantha sect
originated in Sanganer, near Jaipur, sometimes in the early 18th
century. As it has always happened in the Jain reformist movements, the
Terapanthis did not try to introduce any change in the basic tenets
of the Jain religion. Their reforms were connected with small details of
rituals only. For instance, this sect believed that one should not
worship in the temples at night, that while worshipping one should be
standing and not sitting, that kesara (saffron) should not be offered
to image, etc.
Starting from the Agra-Jaipur region the Terapantha movement spread among all
the Digambra Hainas of northern India. Those who did not accept the views
of this sect were called Bisapanthis. As to which is the original
sect and which the offshoot, remains a matter of perennial dispute.
In the 18th century, there was a learned Digambara Jain in Jaipur. His
name was Todarmal. He translated into Hindi prose all the voluminous
Prakrit works of Nemichandra (10th century) of Karnataka. In those
days of the infancy of Hindi prose, Todarmal’s writings show a
refreshing clarity and rhythm. Todarmal belonged to the Terapantha
sect. His son Gumaniram was very orthodox in his religious opinions;
and he thought that Terapantha had not gone back far enough to the
original pristine Jain religion. He, therefore started a new sect which was
named after him as Gumana- pantha. But as it happens with too puritan a sect,
Gumana- pantha never became popular. Its adherents were always few in number.
Some temples belonging to this sect in the Jaipur city and its neighborhood
prove that the sect still survives.
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