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
Page:Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal Vol 7, Part 1.djvu/470
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410
Analysis of the Mackenzie Manuscripts.
[May,
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