A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c20.s1.4

c20.s1.4

Jainism had much more in common with Hinduism than Buddhism, and many popular beliefs and practices were common to both the systems. Thus in 812 a Jaina temple was endowed for the removal of trouble caused to a Chālukya Vimalāditya by the planet Śanaiścara (Saturn). In many Jaina grants we find that the donees are required to use the proceeds of the endowment for their daily rites and observances in terms identical with those employed in Hindu donations; and influential guilds of merchants often included a strong Jaina wing in their membership. Soon after the establishment of Vijayanagar, Jains complained to king Bukkarāya of persecution by the Vaishnavas. The monarch interceded (1368) and decreed that both parties should practise their respective religions with equal freedom and without mutual interference. Though Jainism has been steadily losing ground it has not altogether disappeared from the country—particularly in parts of Gujarat.