Page:The Indian Antiquary Vol 2.djvu/219

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July, 1873.] THE JAINS. 195 to appreciate the data in the Satruhjaya Mdhdt- niya, on this point, first of all, the time of the composition of the book, and its credibility, have to be subjected to examination. Its author, Dhanesvara, is represented as a contemporary and teacher of the V a 11 a- b h i king Siladitya; he is called “ the moon of the lunar race he instructed this ruler of the town of V a 11 a b h i in the purifying Jina. doctrine, and induced him to expel the Bauddhas from the country, and to establish a number of Chaityas near the Tirtha*. Sila¬ ditya lived in the 477th year of V i k r a - mark a, parified the law and reigned till 286.* In this passage it is incorrect to say that he expelled the Bauddhas, since it is certain that he was a very zealous adherent of the religion of Sakyasinha; he cannot in any case have persecuted the Buddhists, although there is nothing to oppose the supposi¬ tion that many Jainas lived also in his kingdom, and that they were protected by him. If fur¬ ther, as is proper, the epoch of Vikrama* d i t y a be taken as a basis, he would have reigned as early as 420, which is contradictory of the age of the reign of this monarch obtained from inscriptions. Calculated according to the era of Salivahanahis reign falls about 555, which is nearer the mark. The time of the composition of the book in question is rendered sti]l more uncertain by the last and prophetical portion of it. King Kumarapala can scarcely have been other than the Chalukya who was the pro¬ tector of the well-known Hemachandra and of the Jainas in general, and who began his reign in the year 1144.f The Vastupala mentioned at the same time with this monarch belongs to a race zealously addicted to the Jaina doctrine —the Chalukyas at Chan- dr a vati, who administered that province in the 12th century as vassals and prime ministers. + Fnrther, the later composition of the book of Dhanesvarais confirmed by the idea he

  • Aatrwnjayamdh&tmya XIV., y. 281 seqq. p. 100. The

number 286 here is either a misprint or a useless state¬ ment. According to Ind. Alt. III. p. 1119 this £il ftditya reigned from the year 545 till 595. + See Ind. Alt. III. p. 507, and AatmnjayamdMtmya, XIV. v. 287 seqq. p. 109. t See Ind. Alt. III. p. 574. The name is spelt V a s t u - p fila. propounds about K a 1 k i n , the 10th future incarnation of Vishnu, which indeed is already mentioned in the Mahdbhdrata, but the development thereof pertains to the much later period of the Purdna*§. Of this avatdra the following circumstances are reported :—On acoount of the preponderance of the Duhshamd, i.e. the evil age, after the death of the entirely unknown B h a v a 4 a, the power of the Mud- galas will foroibly, like a current of the ocean, inundate the earth and seize it; cows, corn, riches, children, women, men of low, middle, and high place in Saurashtra, LUa, and other countries, will be taken away by the Mudgalas. They will assemble the oastes pursuing their usual occupations, and will ar¬ rive in the country distributing great riches. As a foreign nation is evidently meant here,|| I do not hesitate to put Dhanelvara’s statements about K a 1 k i n also into this cate¬ gory. He will be born 1914 years after the death of V l r a as the son of a Mlechha} and will bear the three names Kalkin, Chaturvaktra, and Ru d r a,—this latt er must be the proper read¬ ing for R u d v a . He will destroy the temples ofMusalin or Balarama and Krishna in Mathura, and many disasters will happen in the country. After the lapse of 36 years Kalkin will beoome king and dig up the golden stupas of King Nanda; in order to obtain treasures he will cause the whole to be dug through. On this occasion there will, according to the tale, appear a cow of stone, named Lagnadevi, whereon many inhabitants will leave the town. Then the angry Kal¬ kin will persecute the Jainas, but will be prevented by the tutelary goddess from doing mischief. An inundation of 17 days will compel him, with many believers and unbelievers, to abandon Pataliputra, whioh town he will rebuild by tho aid of N a n d a ’ s treasures, and in whioh prosperity will prevail for 50 years. Towards the end of his dominion he will become wicked and cause the Jainas to be persecuted by heretics, Then S a k r a or § tfatrunjayamAh&tmya XIV. v. 165 167, p. 98, and v. 291 seqq, p. 110. See Ind. Alt. IV. p. 561 seqq, || if u d g a 1 a as a proper name in Sanskrit is the son of the old Indian king Haryasva and the ancestor of a race; a M an i, whose spouse was called IndrasenA according to the Ijabdukalpadruma, under the word. That the Mongols can scarcely bo meant by this name has been shown by Weber, p. 41, note 3.