Page:Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal Vol 7, Part 1.djvu/470

Section 7. — Account of the Jain temple of Parsvana-natha-svdml,, at Tiru Narrayanen Tonda a village, in the district of Yelvunachura Cottai. It is in the Vriddhdchala district : a Stfhala mahatmya. In a certain wilderness, a kind of roots grew which Verdars dug up for food. One day a man of that class saw some growing in the cleft of a rock, and going to dig them up, discovered the image of the above god. A winged creature also appeared ; at which the hunter, being dazzled exclaimed " Appa ! Ayya /" The being said " I am Appa, and Ayya is in that image." The hunter asked for a spiritual vision, and had one enlight- ened eye given him ; the report of the circumstance led to much dis- cussion among the country people ; who, on consulting, noted various marks about the hills, and concluded that it must have been a place of residence, for ancient ascetics. The king of the country, coming to knowledge of these things, treated the hunter handsomely, and had a temple built on the spot. There is then a narrative given, as having happened before this circumstance, to account for the image being found there. This forms a Jaina version of the Pandiya king renouncing the Jaina system for that of the Saivas. By this account the famous Appa r was born and bred a Jaina, but, through ill-treatment of the head ascetic of that system, he went away to the south, by way of the Chola kingdom, and became a Saiva. In consultation with Sampanta and Santarar, a plan was formed to convert the Pdndiyan king, Appar by the power of incantation inflicted on him a grievous illness, and then sent Sampanta, and Sundarar, with the Viputhi (or sacred ashes), saying that if he accepted these he would be cured. He replied that being a Jaina he could not do so. On their returning with this answer to Appar the latter inflicted severer pain on the king ; and then went personally to him, and said, if his teachers could remove one-half on one side, he would remove the other. The Jaina teachers being sent for, said that to use magical incantation was contrary to their religion. Appar then promised to cure the king, to which he consented ; through the craft of Appar, and because an evil time for the Jaina system was come. After being cured Appar asked of the king to allow all the Jaina temples to be turned into Saiva ones at which he hesitated ; but at length being gradually overcome, and through previous ignorance of his own system he was drawn over to become a Saiva ; and he then gave a body of troops into the hands of Sampantar, Sundarar and Appar ; with which they displaced the Jaina images, and turned the fanes into Saiva ones. But on coming to the hill in question, in this paper, as soon as Appar ascended three steps towards it he was struck blind. Astonished he