Medieval Jainism

SR No.: 011082
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Bhasker Anand Saletore
Publisher: Karnataka Publishing House
Total Pages: 448
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 27 MB

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MEDIÆVAL JAINISM basadi. It was named Mallikāmoda Sāntinātha basadi, evidently in honour of the Western Cālukyan ruler himself.1
The twelfth century saw a brilliant company of Jaina generals who were responsible for the political greatness of the times. One of the most famous monarchs of this age was the Hoysala Vişnuvardhana Bittiga Deva. While deal. ing with the patronage which this ruler extended to Jainism in an earlier connection, it was remarked that his extensive conquests were the work of his remarkable generals. Indeed, it was the good fortune of king Vişnu that he was surrounded by these custodians of Jina dharma and champions of Karnāțaka military prestige. There were eight Jaina generals under king Vişnuvardhana-Ganga Rāja, Boppa, Punisa, Baladeva, Mariyāne, and the latter's brother Bharata, Eca, and Vişņu. The first two inaugurated a series of brilliant campaigns which placed Karnāțaka once again among the premier powers of southern India.
The age in which these lived may be termed an era of Karnāțaka expansion. We have shown above that the statement of Rice that king Vişņu entered upon an extensive range of conquests after the year A.D. 1116, when he is supposed to have been converted into Vaişņavism under the influence of the great Rāmānujācārya, is incompatible with the evidence of epigraphs which proves that even so late as A.D. 1133 that that monarch continued to be a devout follower of the Jina dharma. This was but inevitable when it is remembered that all his great generals were staunch Jainas. The preaching of philosophical tenets by one of the greatest of Vaişņava teachers did not come in the way of king Vişnuvardhana's recognition of the fact that political considerations were
1. E. C. VII, Sk. 136 pp. 102-104. 2. Rice, My. & Coorg., p. 99, op. cit.