Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c23.s13: 4.11 Early Jaina records with dates

Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c23.s13

Language: English

4.11 Early Jaina records with dates

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The following early Jaina records of the 5th and 6th centuries A.D. can be more or less precisely dated.

The Digambara Jaina work in Sanskrit, *Lōkavibhāga* written by Siṃhasūri, states that the original work in Prakrit (*Lōyavibhāga*) was completed by Muni Sarvanandi in Śaka 380 (458 A.D.) at Pāṭalikā in Pāṇarāshṭra during the reign of Pallava Simhavarman.²

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² A. Chakravarti 1941 (revised edn. by K.V. Ramesh 1974): pp. viii and 16. See also section 4.20.3 (ii) in this vol.

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(ii) *Darśanasāra

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Dēvasēna, the author of *Darśanasāra*, a Prakrit work written in 853 A.D., states that Vajranandi, the pupil of Pūjyapāda, founded the Drāviḍa Saṅgha in Mathurā in the south (Madurai) in Vikrama Era 525 (468-69 A.D.).³ This Jaina saṅgha was so famous that it is referred to in Kannada inscriptions from Karnataka.¹ The legends relating to the three successive Tamil Caṅkams (literary academies) at Madurai are probably based on later recollection of the name Drāviḍa Saṁgha. It is likely that the Saṁgha, though a Jaina monastic institution, acted also as an assembly for the cultivation of Tamil language and literature. It is no coincidence that this was the period of notable literary output by Jaina authors, mostly monks.

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³ Ibid. pp. 16-17.

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(iii) *Paḷḷaṉkōvil Plates

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The Plates record the grant of land to Vajranandi, a senior Jaina monk at Amaṇcērkkai in Parutti-k-kuṉṟil (modern Tirupparuttikkunram known in the past as Jina Kāñci near Kanchipuram).² The grant was issued in the sixth regnal year (*ca.* 546 A.D.) of Simhavarman. Vajranandi is described in the Sanskrit portion of the Plates as a *gaṇī* (cf. *kaṇi* in the Mangulam and Alagarmalai cave inscriptions) translated as *kuravar* (< Skt. *guravaḥ*) in the Tamil portion. The inscription contains the earliest reference to *paḷḷiccantam*, grant of tax-free land to Jaina monasteries (*paḷḷi*). However, the Paḷḷaṉkōvil Plates are palaeographically late and appear to be a copy made towards the end of the 7th century A.D. of the earlier original.³

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³ See section 5.20.2(a) for discussion on the date of the Paḷḷaṅkōvil Plates.

Linked texts (1)

Daṃsaṇasāra — Devasena, Śaurasenī Prakrit