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

Page 256

CRITICAL TIMES
241
tradition, therefore, makes Elesingha a merchant ; the Ceylonese chronicles, a ruler ; and the Jaina tradition, a sage !1
Although the linking up of the name of Elācārya with Tiruvaļļuvar has to be rejected, yet it cannot be denied that after Samantabhadra's time, and especially after the foundation of the Drāvida sangha at Madura by Vajranandi, Jainism had made rapid progress and established many centres in the Tamil land.2
The Tamil works Pattinapālai, Silappadikāram, and Maņimekhalai contain interesting details of the Jainas in the Tamil land. The great centres were at Madura, Kāveripūmpațținam (mod. Kāveripațțņam in the siyāļi tāluka), and Uraiyūr on the banks of the Kāverī. The Pațținappālai speaks of the Jaina and Buddhist temples being in one quarter of the city of Pugār (i.e., Kaveripūmpațținam), while in another the Brahmans with plaited hair performed sacrifices and raised volumes of smoke. The other classics relate that the Jainas, who were called by the name Ni(r)granthas, lived outside the town in their cool cloisters, the walls of which were exceedingly high and painted red and
1. Mr. K. V. Subramanya Aiyer doubts whether Manu-Cola of the Periyapurānam, Elesingha of the Tamil tradition, and Elēra of the Mahavamso were not identical ! Historical Sketches, p. 186.
2. Of these Kāveripūmpattinam and Uraiyūr were well known Cola capitals, the former owing to its foundation to the king Kari. kāla Cola. The inscriptions in Uraiyur date only to the eleventh century A.D. But the dates of Karikāla Coļa are unknown, although he has been placed in the earlier half of the sixth century A.D. (Subrahmanya Aiyer, Historical Sketches, pp. 1. n. 1; 188, 190-191). If this is accepted, it seems as if we are to place the Silappadikāram, which speaks of that city as being a centre of Jainism, also in the same century.
3. Subrahmanya Aiyer, ibid., p. 198.