The Mauryan Polity c6.s1.t1: The Jaina Tradition

The Mauryan Polity c6.s1.t1

Language: English

The Jaina Tradition

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First, there is the tradition transmitted by the sacred books of the Jains that Candragupta Maurya was a Jaina by religion, and that in the evening of his life he abdicated his throne in favour of his son Bindusāra who succeeded him in 298 B.C., and that after the abdication Candragupta placed himself under the spiritual guidance of Bhadrabāhu, the last in the category of the Jaina saints well known as the Śrutakevalins. Both appear to have gone so far south as Śravaṇa Belgola in the Mysore State where Candragupta embraced asceticism, and finally gave up his life in that very place by starvation, so highly meritorious in the eyes of the Jainas. Consequently Śravaṇa Belgola is even to-day held in great veneration by the members of the Jaina sect. If this story is not ‘imaginative history’ as V. A. Smith remarked in the first edition of his *Early History of India*, but ‘has a solid foundation on fact’ according to the revised opinion of the same historian, then it is quite reasonable to assume that the southern province of the Nandas remained an integral part of the empire and did not show any signs of revolt during the change of dynasty. The possible alternative supposition that Candragupta might have conquered the southern province will not stand to reason, since Candragupta was the first monarch of a new line of kings who came to the throne after overthrowing the reigning Nanda dynasty. To effect this in his own Capital and to make the Empire rest on an unshakable foundation would have required and absorbed all the energy and effort of a life-time. Thus busy at home, Candragupta could have hardly directed his attention or diverted his activity to the Dekhan also. If again the tradition that Candragupta chose the far south, Śravaṇa Belgola, for his retirement and death is trustworthy,¹ Mysore must have been to him quite a home, which a recently conquered province could never be. It may then appear, that Candragupta must have succeeded to the Nanda empire including the Dekhan province.

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¹ For Jaina tradition, see Rice, *Mysore and Coorg*, pp. 3-9; *Q.J.M.S.*, Bangalore, October, 1922; *E. I.*, Vol. XIII, pp. 430-47; Rice, *Inscriptions at Śravaṇa Belgola* (1889), Intro., pp. 1-15. *Contra* J. F. Fleet, *Ind. Ant.*, Vol. XXI (1892), pp. 156-60; *Ep. Indica*, Vol. III, p. 171, note.

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Lewis Rice draws our attention to a number of inscriptions at Śravaṇa Belgoḷa discovered by him in 1874 where Bhadrabāhu and Candragupta Munīndra are frequently and jointly mentioned,¹ adding that Candragupta attained such spiritual eminence as he was for a long time served by the forest deities. This, Mr. Rice, substantiates from literature. The Bṛhatkathākośa of Hariṣeṇa (10th century) refers to King Candragupta as a disciple of Bhadrabāhu. There is, besides, another work, Bhadrabāhucarita, attributed to Ratnānandi of the 15th century, where a similar account occurs. The same is found in another modern work Rājāvali-kathā by Devacandra, perhaps belonging to the earlier part of the 19th century. The migration was, according to the Bṛhatkathākośa, to the Punnāṭa, a province in the south-west of Mysore² famous for its beryl even in the second century A.D. according to Ptolemy who calls it Pounnāṭa.

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¹ Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions, pp. 3 and 4.

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² saṃghopi samasta guruvākyataḥ dakṣiṇā pathadeśastha punnāṭaviṣayam yayuḥ|

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*The evidence of Tāranātha*

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Secondly, there is the evidence of the Tibetan historian Tāranātha,³ according to whom, Bindusāra assisted by the glorious Cāṇakya, who was responsible to a great extent for Candragupta’s accession to the Magadha throne, is said to have made extensive conquests in the country south of the Vindhyas. "Afterwards there ruled the son of Candragupta, by name Bindusāra who was born in the country of Gaura, for 35 years. The Minister and Brahman Cāṇakya conjured up the jealous Yamāntaka. After he had seen his face the power of his mantra became very great. By means of magic, he killed the kings and ministers of about 16 towns. And when in consequence of this, the king began a war, he brought the country which was situated between East and West Oceans into his power.¹ Then this Brahman killed, by different methods, 3,000 people and by different uses of narkoṭa he fooled nearly 10,000 people. Further he expelled several people, disunited them, made them immovable, dumb, etc. As a result of all these sins, he died of a loathsome disease and was confined to Hell. During the time of this king, in the town of Kusumapura a vihāra named Kusumālaṅkāra was erected in which the great Ācārya Mātṛceta lived and propagated the law of the Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna. Towards the end of the life of the Ācārya Mātṛceta there ruled Bindusāra’s brother’s son, King Śrīcandra. He built a temple to the Ārya Avalokiteśvara, and supported 2,000 Bhikṣus who taught the Mahāyāna. When Rāhulabhadrā was teaching in Nālanda he built there fourteen beautiful halls and fourteen incomparable religious schools. After King Śrīcandra had ended his rule many years had passed by, when in the west in the kingdoms of Ṭili and Mālva a young king Kaṇika was elected ruler. At that time 28 mines with precious stones were discovered and the king became rich. In all parts of the world he built big temples and entertained 20,000 Bhikṣus of great and small vehicles. Therefore one must know that the kings Kaniṣka and Kaṇika are not one and the same person.”¹ Though the above statement is open to question inasmuch as it refers, to the time of Bindusāra, the Mahāyāna and the Hīnayāna systems which were the products of much later times, yet it clearly demonstrates that Bindusāra of whom we have unfortunately no documents, literary or epigraphical, was busy extending the empire in the south of India in addition to that left by his father. That Bindusāra must have been a great soldier and conqueror is corroborated by the testimony of the Greek writers who refer to him as Amitrochates (Sans.: Amitraghāta), a terror to the enemies. It is not a name but a surname which indicates his great prowess in war and his extensive conquests.² Bindusāra could not have earned this title for nothing. There was no necessity for his conquest of the North India as the whole territory was under his father's suzerainty. Nor is there any possibility of Bindusāra carrying his arms beyond the borders of the Indian continent. It is, therefore, obvious that his conquests of the Dekhan must have been so difficult and arduous as to merit this hard-earned title. In conclusion Candragupta succeeded to the Kuntala province left to him by the Nandas. His son Bindusāra acquired further territories so much so that the empire of Aśoka comprised the whole of the Peninsular India roughly down to the latitude of Nellore. If it is conceded that Aśoka conquered the province of Kaliṅga, then Bindusāra either in the capacity of the Viceroy under his father at the provincial capital, Vidiśa, or in his own personal capacity as king, must have been busy in conquering and acquiring the southern parts other than that of the Kuntala.

Linked texts (6)

Epigraphia Indica
Indian Antiquary
Vālmīkirāmāyaṇa — Vālmīki, Sanskrit
Bṛhatkathākośa — Hariṣeṇa, Sanskrit
Rājāvaḷikathe — Devacandra 1813, Kannada
Udayendiram plates of Nandivarman (ed. Kielhorn 1895) — Sanskrit