History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c34.s1.68

v3.c34.s1.68

Narvarman like his father Udayāditya and like Bhoja himself was a devotee of Śiva but they were all tolerant of other religions, especially Jainism which was then spreading in Gujarat and Malwa and whose teachers were indeed powerful disputants. Disputations were often held before Narvarman between Jain Pandits and Hindu orthodox Pandits. One such disputation is described as held at Mahākāla temple itself between Jain muni Ratnasūri and a Śaivite teacher named Vidyāśivavādin. In such disputations it appears that the Jain pandits usually got the upperhand which led to their influencing the kings themselves before whom they were held. The Paramāra kings, however, remained devotees of Śiva throughout and Narvarman, though an admirer of Jain scholars and respectfully referred to by Jain writers, was never converted to Jainism (Luard and Lele p. 31).