History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c16.s1.22

c16.s1.22

Indeed it has even been suggested that Mahāpadma was himself a Jaina.⁶ Arguments for this theory are based on the favourable tone of the Jaina legends about him, and on the Hāthīgumphā inscription of Khāravela, which, according to one reading, records that Khāravela restored to Kaliṅga a statue of a Jina, taken by the Nanda.¹ The argument is not conclusive. If Mahāpadma had been an earnest Jaina it is unlikely that he would have outraged the Kaliṅgan Jaina community by robbing their temples of their ikons. It would seem more probable that he carried away the image as a trophy, obtained by harrying a sect to which he was opposed. The inscription is in very bad condition and the reading may be incorrect. Dr. Barua has suggested *janam* for *jinam*,² and the acceptance of this reading would seriously weaken the theory that Mahāpadma was a supporter of Jainism. Further, the Nanda mentioned in the Hāthīgumphā inscription may not have been Mahāpadma at all, but another Nanda king.