Tribes in Ancient India c52.6

c52.6

The Jain writers give an idealised picture of the Jñātṛkas, telling us that they were afraid of sin, abstained from wicked deeds, did no mischief to any being, and therefore did not partake of meat.³ Dr. Hoernle says⁴: ‘Outside their settlement at Koḷāga, the Jñātṛkas possessed a religious establishment (or Cheïya) which bore the name Duïpalāsa. Like most Cheïyas,⁵ it consisted of a park enclosing a shrine, hence in the *Vipāka Sūtra* it is called the Duïpalāsa Park (Ujjāna)’. The Nāya clan seems to have supported a body of monks who followed Pārśvanātha, an ascetic, who lived some 250 years before Mahāvīra.⁶ It is stated in the *Uvāsagadasāo* that Mahāvīra’s parents (and with them probably the whole clan of Nāya Kṣatriyas) are said to have been followers of the tenets of Pārśvanātha. When Mahāvīra, who was taken to be the successor of Pārśvanātha, appeared, the members of his clan became his devoted followers.