Epigraphia Indica Vol 24

SR No.: 032578
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Hirananda Shastri
Publisher: Archaeological Survey of India
Publication Year: 1937
Total Pages: 472
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 22 MB

Page 335

972
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
[Vol. XXIV.
and Arjuna (in might and prowess), Baladēva and Väsudēva (in strength and wisdom), and equalled Nakula and Sahadēva (in valour and bravery) respectively. They were devoted to the Jaina-dharma. They obtained through the favour of Chāļukya-Bhima, i.e., Chāļukya-Bhima II, the insignia of feudal chieftainship (sāmanta), namely, the bridvära, chhatra (parasol), chämara (fly whisk), peacock's tail, water-jars, horses, and musical instruments like kāhala and others.
The inscription then refers ll. 51-54) to & Jaina pontiff (ächārya), the preceptor of the two noblemen Bhima and Naravāhana II. He was the renowned Jayasēna, who bore the surname Näthasēna and was the disciple of the illustrious Chandrasēna. Jayasēna was a master of all the tastras. He was well versed in the Siddhānta, i.e., Jaina-siddhānta, 'the doctrines of the Jainas'. He was a man of excellent and praiseworthy conduct. He attained proficieny in para-samaya, that is to say, his soul became absorbed in the non-self for the liberation of mankind from bondage. He was honoured by trāvakas, kshapanakas, kshullakas and the ajjakas. For the benefit of the celebrated Jaina pontiff, who was their religious preceptor, Bhima and Naravāhana II, constructed two Jaina temples (Jina-bhavana) at Vijayavātikā; and for that purpose king Ammarāja granted the village of Pedda-Galidiparru having converted it into a dēvabhoga and exempted it from all kinds of burdens and taxation.
Some of the names and terms that occur in the inscription are interesting. The family of the two chiefs is called the great Trinayana-kula', and their gotra-name appears as Grēvya. Both these terms have not been met with before either in the inscriptions of the Eastern Chalukya dynasty or in the literature of the Andhra country. The Trinayana-kula seems to belong to the fourth or Sūdra caste, like the Panta-kula of the Reddis of Andhradėsa, whose birth-place is said to be the Gangā which sprang from the feet of Lord Vishņu. The Grēvya-gotra, too, is not a Brahmanical götra, and this fact supports the above conjecture. Several orders of the Jaina ascetics and lay worshippers are mentioned in the record. The Srāvakas, for instance are Jaina lay. men; the Kshapanakas are Jaina yatis (ascetics) who received proper initiation according to the school of the Digambaras. A Jaina kshullaka is one who is a Srāvaka of a high order belonging to the tenth degree, the eleventh degree being that of Ailaka. These seem to correspond to the dāsas of the Bhagavata-sampradāya. The next higher order of spiritual stage is that of muni or ächārya. The term ajjakā may be a Prākrit form of Sanskrit Āryakā," a female ascetic ", who, according to Jaina doctrines, wears only a white sari. The expression para-samaya which occurs in the passage para-samaya-patuḥ sannut-otkrishta-esittaḥ (1. 53) is apparently used in a highly technical sense here as it rightly belongs to the Jaina philosophical terminology. The Samayasara of Kundakunda Acharya, which is a discourse that gives a knowledge of the Highest Soul, explains the terms para-samaya and sva-samaya as follows:
जौवश्वारिवदर्शनज्ञानस्थितस्तं कि स्वसमयं जानौति । .
पुत्रलकम्योपदेशस्थितं च तं जानीहि परसमयं । “Know that sva-samaya is the soul which is concentrated in right conduct, belief and knowledge and which is self-absorbed. And para-samaya is the soul which stands in the condition determined by the operation of the Karmic matter or bondage and which is absorbed in the Non-self."
1 Compare this passage (lines 49-50) with the passage in the Ranastipindi grant of Vimaliditya : above, Vol. VI, pp. 357, toxt, line 83 : "ht fo @a a arwfcerent faire l' eto.
* No evidence is available to indicate that Bhima and Naraváhana were Sudras. The statement that they belonged to the Trinayana-kula may only show that they were Saivas. The Nolamba-Pallavas are described u born of the Isvara-van ba (I kvara-varhdaja), and the later Pallava chiefs of the Telugu country have the epithet Parama-var-odbhava. It is also not certain that Grēvya is not a Brahminionl götra. Griva is kaown to be the name of a götrarahi.-N. L. R.)
I am indebted to Pandit Ajit Prasad, M.A., LL.B. of Lucknow, for the meaning of these terms. [The term is more likely aijata Skt. Oryaha.-Ed.)