Proceedings and papers of National Seminar on Jainology

Author(s): Yugalkishor Mishra
Publisher: Research Institute of Prakrit Jainology & Ahimsa Mujjaffarpur

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Vaishali Institute Research Bulletin No. 8
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passed into adoration and took the form of a regular cult. Finally, images of these personage were set up for worship and idolatry became one of the chief institutions of orthodox Jainism. Among the images which have been found in Bihar, the most common are those of Rishabhadeva, Parsvanatha, Mahavira and Santinatha who are identified by their symbolic marks. For example, Rishabhadeva is always associated with bull whereas Parsvanatha is shown sitting under the canopy of a snake-hood and Mahavira's symbol of identification is a lion and a wheel.
Practically no Jain inscription has been found in Bihar during the Gupta period. The Kahaum Stone Pillar Inscription of Skanda Gupta, though a Jain one, is found in Uttar Pradesh. Of the Pala period, we have found very few Jain inscription in this State. Only one has been found at Nalanda and assigned to the reign of Rajyapalao. This inscription is incised on a pillar of a ruined Jain temple. The object of the inscription is to record the visit of one Vaidanath, son of Manoratha of the merchant family, to the temple in the reign of the illustrious Rajyapala. The inscription does not throw any light on the condition of Jainism in the State of Bihar except that Bihar was still a place of pilgrimage for outsiders. The fact is further corroborated by the existence of another temple at Rajgir, where some of the images of the Tirthankaras were installed by some teachers called Vasantnandi and Thiroka'. From the inscriptions engraved on the pedastal of some images, the temple can be assigned to the 8th century A. D.
Thus it is found that, though Jainism was not patronised by any king or by any ruling dynasty, it was not altogether dead in its place of origin, viz., Bihar. People had respect for this religion. Jain images discovered in the district of Singhbhum, Manbhum, Patna, Gaya and Shahabad point out that Jainism continued to have adherents in different parts of Bihar. Even today, unlike Buddhism, Jainism is not extinct in the land of its birth. Perhaps, there are specific reasons, as pointed out by Mrs. Stevenson”, which saved it from extinction in Bihar. She writes, 'It has never cut itself off from the faith that surrounded it. Jains always employed Brahamanas as their domestic chaplains, who presided at birth rites and often acted as officials at death and marriage ceremonies and temple worship. So when the storm of persecution by the Muslims or Mohamdans swept over Bihar, Jainism simply took refuge in Hinduism, which opened its capacious bosom to receive it."' Jainism compromised with Hindu caste practices and winked at the worship of some Hindu deities like Ganesh. Vasudeva and Baladeva are two of the sixty-three Salaka-purushas, who are believed to be director of the course of the world". Rishabhadeva the first Tirthankara is regarded as an Avatara of
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