Jainism in Kerala (Set of 2 Books)

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Jain and Buddhist Centres in Kerala About the Book

Here is a systematic, thorough and comprehensive study of the Jain and Buddhist centres in Kerala. It was the growing strength and prosperity of the agricultural Brahmin settlements and the shrinking of long-distance trade under the feudal system, rather than the persecution by Brahmins that led to the decline and fall of these groups in Kerala. This is a fine and authentic presentation of facts regarding Jainism and Buddhism in Kerala.

Foreword

Here is a systematic, thorough and comprehensive study of the Jain and Buddhist centres in Kerala. This was undertaken by Smt. B. Padmakumari Amma as part of the Ph.D. programme in the Department of History, Calicut University (1990 -96) under my supervision. She took up the work with a sense of commitment not always found among researchers today, with the result that the outcome is more than a routine academic study.

Apart from the necessary library work, she planned and executed fieldwork on a large scale, visiting each and every site from Kasargode to Kanyakumari connected with these creeds in an attempt to strengthen and supplement the slender database. She examined the place names, inscriptions, monuments and other archaeological evidence, and also Tamil, Sanskrit and Malayalam literary works in order to be able to present an integrated picture.

After a critical evaluation of early studies, she proceeded to collect information from all available primary sources and review them in the light of recent studies beginning with the reconstruction of Kerala history by Professor Elamkulam P.N.Kunhan Pillai and others in the middle of the last century. The publication of new source materials in the course of the 20" century made this research possible and desirable.

Earlier conclusions were formulated at a time when there was no sound chronological framework of Kerala history, and therefore the bits of information could not be pasted together in a meaningful way. It was blindly assumed that the Jains and Buddhists were the dominant groups in Kerala society until the Kerala Brahmins somehow gained the upper hand, got the rulers on their side, and persecuted and banished or suppressed them. Very often scholars imagined that all the place names ending with "palli" denoted either a Jain or Buddhist centre. This is not true. Palli in Tamil and Old Malayalam stood for a small hamlet as in Pali and other Prakrit languages. This was distinguished from the Brahmin settlements called agrahara or brahmadeya or simply grama in inscriptions and literature. It is true that Jain and Buddhist or Christian or Muslim settlements were established in such hamlets, but the suffix palli in itself did not prove their existence.

It would appear froma scrutiny of evidence that Jain monks arrived in Kerala along with traders from different parts of India. They followed the land routes across the passes in the Western Ghats, leading to the Vayanad, Palakkad, Idukki and Thiruvananthapuram districts of the present day. Their shrines are found on these routes. Available evidence would indicate that they came only after the arrival and settlement of the Aryan Brahmin settlers in the 32 original gramas, mentioned in the legendary Keralolpatti chronicle, and the establishment of the Cera kingdom of Makotai or Mahodayapuram. As the traders belonged mostly to the Jain groups, they brought the Jain monks and settled them in some pockets of Kerala. However, unlike the Vedic Brahmins who were householders, the Jains were ascetics, and did not have successors to look after their monasteries and shrines. When the flow of trade slowed down after the disappearance of the Cera kingdom in the beginning of the 12" century and the establishment of a feudal system with nearly self-sufficient villages, the flow of new Jain monks and ascetics also stopped. There were no new monks to replace the old ones. The Jain shrines were neglected or abandoned, and taken over by the Hindu natives as in the case of Kinalur, Tiruvannur, Irinjalakkuda, Trikkana Matilakam, Kallil, Citaral, Nagaraja temple etc. The lay followers might have been absorbed in the local communities and castes. There are no signs of persecution or struggle either in archaeology or contemporary literature.

The case of Buddhism was slightly different. Contrary to the assumption of early writers on the subject, researchers found relics of Buddhism in the form of sculptures only in Kuttanad and the surrounding area, suggesting that they belonged to the Srimulavasa Vihara which flourished from the 9" to the 12" century in the neighborhood of Trikkunnappuzha where the vihara was most probably located. The vihara was swallowed by the sea sometime during the 12" or 13" century, and that was the end of the Buddhist connection with Kerala.

Preface

That the foundations of Indian culture were deeply embedded in Dravidian culture is now an inconvertible fact. Dravidian culture is one of the most ancient cultures of the world. Those cultures, slightly contemporaneous to one another, slowly started fading out. However, the primordial Dravidian culture continues to thrive without losing its quintessence despite the apparent changes in systems of dress and address.

Dravidian University is established through a Legislature Act by the Government of Andhra Pradesh in 1997 with the extended support of Southern States at Kuppam, a tri-lingual junction in the south-western part of Andhra Pradesh, 4 km. away from Karnataka, 8 km. from Tamil Nadu and about 4 hours drive from Kerala, to promote a spirit of integration among the speakers of Dravidian languages, thus building a strong path of National Integration and to advance research and studies in Dravidian language which are about 27 both inside India and outside like Baluchistan and to create a strong awareness of the integrated character of Dravidian Studies, a major branch of Indology.

One of the main objectives of Dravidian University is to unearth the linguistic, cultural and historical traits common to the Dravidian languages that have spread across the whole of India and the neighboring countries. Keeping this in view, the University and the neighboring countries. Keeping this in view, the University established the Department of Dravidian and Computational Linguistics in November 2005. The department carries out research in the area of Dravidian linguistics and computational linguistics. Publishing research works in both these areas is another important activity of the department.

There is no denying the fact that one of the main factors of unifying India, geographically and culturally is the contribution of Jainism and Buddhism. The influence they exerted on the evolution of modern Indian languages is also remarkable. These two religious precursors made their way to the southern parts of India and extended their field of activities up to Sri Lanka. They contributed in their own way, and significantly too to the concept of finding India as one and strengthened what became a dream- realization that India is one. The way the religions chose deserves much praise, almost a revolutionary mode of implementing their cult through the path of Ahimsa, love and peace. Violence and compulsion were unknown to them. They went on preaching and - practicing the basic virtues of humanity and what ever we find as admirable traits of Indian culture, our religious tolerance and the principles Gandhi preached and practiced is the contribution of these basic virtues.

Jainism and Buddhism marked their strong influence in the South Indian states especially in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. We can quote great names like those of Kundakundacharya who belonged to Jainism and Nagarjuna who was a Buddhist philosopher. All the same may be due to geographical factors their influence was not felt much in the land of Kerala. It is worth a matter of research how much these religions were able to influence the lives of the people in the Southern most part of India. A lot of evidence has been wiped off in the merciless torrent of time.in the name of reforms and revolutions. There fore it seems that the only way before a historian is to amass what ever relics and evidences are available and reconstruct ancient history. Such a study or research would be undoubtedly a praiseworthy analysis of the development that has occurred not only in the social life of India, but also in its cultural, literary and linguistic fields. Dr. Padmakurmari Amma is the authoress of this book. Her achievement is the result of relentless study tours followed by collecting valuable materials, analysing them scientifically and arriving at reasonable assessment. The Dravidian University has: great pleasure in publishing this research work. It is with great pleasure and pride that this book is being presented before inquisitive readers.

**Contents and Sample Pages**

History of Jainism in Kerala About the Book Reconstructing the history of Jainism in Kerala is a herculean task for historians as well as budding researchers.

The present work is the result of an intensive investigation into the dark corners of the 'Faith of Lord Jaina' in the modern state of Kerala, extending over a period of about fifteen hundred years of ancient and medieval periods. This work also throws fresh light on some crucial political, economic and socio- cultural aspects of ancient and medieval Kerala and contiguous regions of south India. This study is mainly based on an impartial and comprehensive study and analysis of epigraphically evidences from the three linguistic regions of Peninsular India, viz. Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, comprising transcripts of hundreds of inscriptions in Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada and Sanskrit languages.

After a thorough and critical analysis of the inscriptional sources, the author presented a history of Jain ism in Kerala with a new perspective in the most comprehensive manner possible.

The present book is" thus far, the most significant and' original research contribution to Jainism in Kerala; besides, it open up avenues for fresh academic investigations in political, economic and socio- cultural aspects of the History of Kerala in general.

About the Author Dr M.S. Dhiraj (b. 1978) has completed his Pre-UG in Social Sciences and Bachelor's degree in History from University of Calicut; and his Masters in History from University of Kerala. He received his Ph.D. degree in History from Pondicherry University for his path breaking research on 'Jain ism in Kerala: A Historical Perspective (with special reference to Wayanad Region)". He was a recipient of the Junior Research Fellowship of Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) for his doctoral study.

Dr Dhiraj has 28 papers published in various international and national journals, edited volumes and conference proceedings to his credit; besides, he has presented 20 papers in various international and national seminars and conferences. His academic interests include jainology, archaeology, ancient and medieval political and cultural history.

Foreword "I say with conviction that the doctrine for which the name of Lord Mahavira is glorified nowadays is the doctrine of ahimsa. If anyone has practiced to the fullest extent and has propagated most the doctrine of ahimsa, it was Lord Mahavira"

Jainism is the oldest non-theistic religions of the world. The Pali word Jina literally mean 'the Victor' or 'the conqueror" or 'the liberator'; a person who himself became free from the bondage of karma through conquering of mega (attachment-deceit and greed), and dvesha (aversion-anger and ego). The basic ideas propounded by Mahavira were very simple, practical, ethical and thoroughly appropriate for the coherent existence of human social life. The ultimate objective of his teachings is to attain relief from the cycle of birth, life, pain, disease, old age, death and everlasting stat~ of being in one's self, which is nothing but the nirvana/ moksha or liberation/absolute freedom.

Mahavira accepted the existence of God. He believed that an individual soul can reach to the position of God because he has the innermost quality of godliness but most of the time it having downcast by the Karma sin. The destiny of the individual has to be decided by himself, whether it is good or bad. He should reap what he sows. Each good deed will bear its fruits; there is no escape from the effect of one's actions. Jainism is the only religion which gave absolute freedom to an individual to decide his fate.

Mahavira preached that from infinite past, all forms of life (soul), due to the lack of Jainism; organizational structure of the church; schisms in the church; royal patronage in the Genetic valley; spread of Jain ism in Odisha; arrival of early Jainas into peninsular India, particularly into the Kannada and Tamil regions like Shravanabelagola, Punnada (Southern Mysore), Chola and Pandya countries. The chapter also discussed the ancient Tamil Jaina literary tradition with a brief account of the Jaina affiliated Tamil-Brahmi and Vatteluttu inscriptions dated between e. second century BCE and c. sixth century CE; royal patronage enjoyed by the Jainas from the ruling dynasties of Karnataka and Tamil land especially, the Pallavas of Kanchi, Kadambas of Banavasi, Gangas of Talakad, Cholas of Thanjavur, Hoysalas of Dwarasamudra, etc.

The fourth chapter 'Early Inroads of Jainism in to Kerala', begins with a brief description of the land and physiographic of the state and discourses the epoch making early Inroads of Jain ism into the Kerala region which are synchronized with the Tamil and Kannada Jainism. This is followed by an elaborate account of the antiquity of Jainism in Kerala reconstructed on the basis of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions of the period between e. second century BCE and e. fourth century CE; identification of ancient Kerala as a part of Punnada country and her Jain past as a part of Punnada Jainism; recognizing relation between the Jainas of Kerala and the Jainas of north- western part of India; the role of migrant traders in the spread of Jainism in Kerala; the role of trade centers and coastal towns in the emergence of Jain a settlements and spiritual establishments, etc. Through this chapter, the antiquity of Jainism in Kerala which hitherto was dated to 8th-9th century CE is now pushed back to the pre-Common Era, as also its expansion into this region almost simultaneous to its, spread in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka regions.

The fifth chapter 'Jainism under the Native Dynasties', dealt with the Jaina affiliation of the native dynasties, viz., the Athan line of ancient Cheras, the Later Cheras and the rulers of the Ay kingdom: It also proved the unassailable relation between ancient Cheras and their medieval cousins viz., the Perumals of Mahodayapuram. Some of the interesting topics of study in this chapter are interpretation of the Kinalur Inscription of King Vijayaraga Chera and Thiruvannur inscription of Rajaraja Chera; identification of Elini (Yavanika) mentioned in one inscription as the ancient Chera ruler Chenguttuvan and the Vidugadalagiya Perumal in the same record as the medieval Chera ruler who succeeded Rama Kulashekhara; Jaina affiliation of Rama Kulashekhara and the resultant disintegration of the empire, etc. The Tirukkunavay Ayiram mentioned in the Kollam pillar inscription is identified, for the first time, as the Ayiram shadow force of the Chera king Rama Kulashekhara. This Ayiram organization is proved to be the forerunner of the present Onnu Kure Ayiram Yogam (OKAY) of Kodungallur temple. On the basis of inscriptional analysis, the author identified the present Mathilakam near Thrissur as Thrikanamathilakam or Tirukkunauas from where Lingo Adigal authored his epic Silappadilwram.

Identification of the Ay king Vikramaditya Varaguna as a follower of Jain ism is another significant contribution of the book. The study of the Jaina association of the term 'Adigal'; study on the concept of 'bhattaraka'; probe into the Trikkakara problem, etc., are also path breaking contributions in the history of Jainism in Kerala.

Preface The present work is the result of my intensive investigation into the dark corners of the 'Faith of Lord Jina' in the modern state of Kerala, extending over a period of about fifteen hundred years of ancient and medieval periods. This is a humble attempt to divulge the glorious Jaina past of the region with an apt methodological application that explaining some crucial and fresh historical facts in political, economic and socio-cultural perspectives. The findings are present after an impartial and complete examination of the original source materials mainly comprising the epigraphically evidences, from the three principle regions of Peninsular India, viz. Kerala, Tamil adyar and Karnataka. The published transcript and translation of a hundreds of inscriptions in different languages like Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Sanskrit, etc. have been critically studied, and a reliable account of Jainism in Kerala is presented.

The book is rarely, in fact never, the work of one individual. It is to a considerable extent the judicious imitation and adaptation of other people's ideas and thoughts, put within the framework of one's own critical analysis. I would like to thank all the people who contributed in some way or the other in completing this work.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages