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DISAPPEARANCE OF BUDDlllSM AND TIlE SURVIVAL OF JAINISM 149

centre of the cult of the bodhisattva MaIijusri. At a later time, when


this and other heavenly bodhisattvas had become identified with
Saivite deities, Natha ascetics established a Siva-ling a in the temple
and called it by the present name. Still later, disciples of
Matsyendranatha, among whom should be included king
Kundavarma, arranged for the placing of the extant LokeSvara
image, an image representing what they must have regarded as
the divine form of their master.
The worship of the Siva--linga and its associated bodhisattva no
doubt continued for several centuries, until what had originally
been a Buddhist centre was converted into a purely Saivite tem-
ple.
27
Although the Kadarik:l vihiira provides the only known ex-
ample of solid inscriptional evidence for this sort of transforma-
tion, it must nevertheless be the case that the process witnessed
here was an extremely typical one. The Buddhist doctrine of the
heavenly bodhisattvas allowed not only the kind of absorption-by-
identification that we have seen, but also opened the door to the
myriad Saivite gods, goddesses, mantras, dhiira1}is, and mystical
tantric practices surrounding such other-worldy figures. Natha
influence on the Jainas, by contrast, was kept to a minimum;
although certain tantric elements do appear in conjunction with
the these are of an extremely superficial sort and cannot
in any way be construed as a fundamental aspect ofJaina worship.
It is true that the term "-natha" itself came to be attached to the
names of certain Tlrthailkaras (e.g., Neminatha, ParSvanatha), this
alteration, however, was purely a nominal one, representing no
change whatsoever in the nature of the saints so designated.
It has been the aim of this paper to go beyond the various
theories which Mitra has set forth by searching for more basic
factors, factors that underlay or made possible whatever set of
circumstances each of these theories describes. This same meth-
odOlogy, then, should be applied to our own proposal, viz., that
the doctrine of the heavenly bodhisattvas made Buddhism unique-
ly vulnerable to the assimilating tendencies of the surrounding
Hindu cults. The development of the heavenly bodhisattvas theory,
and indeed that of the entire Mahayana in Buddhism, can per-
haps be ultimately traced back to the celebrated "silence (avyiikrta)
of the Buddha", his unwillingness to commit himself regarding
fundamental philosophical issues. The inability of the Bud-
dhiSts to agree upon the meaning of this silence led to a situation
150
BUDDHIST STUDIES
in which various contradictory absolutist doctrines could emerge,
each one claiming to be the correct interpretation of the master's
teachings. Of particular interest here was the doctrine of sunyatii,
which implied, among other things, that there was no real distinc-
tion between sa7flSara and nirvii1}a. In such a context it was a short
step to postulate beings on the model of the heavenly bodhisattvas,
beings who, unlike the Buddha, dwelt in both realms simulta-
neously.
In Jainism, as is well-known, no counterpart of the Buddhist
Mahayana ever appeared. Again, we can understand this fact on
the basis of fundamental doctrine, viz., the Jaina assertion that nO
absolute philosophical statement could be taken as valid. This
view was expressed by the term anekiinta (non-absolutism), and
led to the cardinalJaina tenet of syiidviida ("qualified assertion").
For Jainas, in other words, no synthesis of the human and the
supramundane was ever possible; hence the Tirthailkaras remained
the highest models of spiritual development, and such Tantric
practices as identification of the self with the deity were simply out
of the question.
By excluding absolutism in any form, the Jainas limited them-
selves to a rather unexciting set of theories which probably exert-
ed very little influence on Indian philosophical thoughts as a whole;
certainly their texts cannot compare in beauty or interest with the
spectacular flights of imagination and brilliant speculations found
in the Prajnaparamitiis. Nevertheless, the tenacious adherence of
Jaina aciiryas to the anekiinta doctrine did have one result )VDrth
more to them than any praise for literary or philosophical merit;
this was of course the survival of their religious community, an
accomplishment which the Buddhists were ultimately unable to
match.
NOTES
I. RG. Mitra, The Decline of Buddhism in India, Shantiniketan, 1954.
2. This view has found favour with certain Buddhologists, notably Conze: ... what
Buddhism in India died from was just old age, or sheer exhaustion". A Shoo
Histury of Buddhism, 1960, p. 86.
3. Regarding the application of the term Srama!1a exclusively to Buddhists and
Jainas, see P.S. Jaini S r a m a ~ Their conflict with Brahmal)ical society", in
Chapters in Indian Civiliuztion, Volume I (ed.J.W. Elder), Dubuque, 1970, pp.
39-81.
DISAPPEARANCE OF BUOpmSM AND THE SURVNAL OF JAINISM 151
4. P. S.Jaini "On the Sarvajilatva (Omniscience) of Mahavira and the Buddha".
in Buddhist Studies in Honour of I. B. HllT'nI!r, Dorderecht, 1974, pp. 71-90.
5. For the Jaina account of Mahavira's life, see H.Jacobi,Jaina Sutras, Parts 1 and'
2, Sacred Books of the East, Volumes XXII and XLV.
6. The Hathigumpha Inscription of King Kharavela of Kalinga (ciTca 150 II.C.) is
cited in this connection. The following line is most relevant: nandariijanitafTI
kiilingaftnam samnivesam. .. [Tiija] gahamtanapariMre hi ca
nagati. See N.K. Sahu, Utkal University His/ory of Orissa, Vol. 1. 1964, pp. 359 fr.
7. For a history of Jain a migration in the north. cf. C.J. Shah. Jainism in Nurth
India. London, 1932, pp. 187-200.
8. For a political and cultural history of the Jainas in Karnataka, cf. B.A. Saletore,
MediaevalJainism, Bombay. 1938.
9.(a) For an allusion to the Saivite persecution of the Jainas at Madurai, see
by Cekkilar (10th century), ed. T.M.K. PiIlai, Srivaikuntam,
1964, p. 533; TiruvilaytitaT by Parailcoti Munivar (16th century), ed.
N.M.V. Nattar, Madras, 1965, pp. 441-479.
9.(b) On the destruction of Nalanda, see A.L Basham, TM Wonder Tha/ was India,
New York, 1959, p. 266.
10. For Haribhadra's comments on corrupt Jain a practices, cf. Nathuram Premi,
Jain Siihitya aUT Itihas, Bombay, 1965, pp. 480 If.
II. On the history of the Sthllnakavasi, cf. W. Schubring, TM Doctrine oj 1M Jainas,
Delhi, 1962, pp. 65 If.
12. On the Digambara-Svetiimbara schism, see Ibid., p. 50 If.
13. For a complete bibliography, see R. Williams, Jaina Yogo-A Suroey oj 1M
Mediaeual SriiVaJujcaTas. London, 1963.
14. H. Saddhatissa (editor). Up;isakajantilafikiiTa of Ananda, Pali Text Society,
London, 1965 (a twelfth-centtJry Pali work written by a Singhalese monk in
South India).
15. diinaooms/u vaie /qtvii punarlnuldhatvam iigatah/sargasya tasmai
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
Buddha/mane namah. Mbh. XII, 47, 67; 47. 247; Gitagovinda, I.
1,9.
Bhagava/a Puriif.W, V, iii-viii. P. S. Jaini, "Jina as an avatiira of
Bulli!tin oftM School oJ Oriental and Afriuzn Studies, Vol. XL. 2. 1977.
This criticism appears in the iriiVakiicaTas (see note 13, above) under the
description of "false gods, scripttJres and gurus"whose worship is forbidden to
the Jaina laity.
AtIeast sixteen Jaina are known to exist (ten in Sanskrit, five in
Prakrit, one in ApabhTaJ!lSa). For a complete list, see V.M. Kulakami's Intro-
duction (pp. 1-6) to the Paumacariu, Vol. I, Varanasi, 1962. Compare the
extent of this collection with the fact that only one such story, vi:.., the
DasaTalha-jiila/uz (Jiitaka No. 461) exists in the Buddhist tradition. cf. Kamil
Bulche, Riimakathii: u/paUi aUT vikiis, Prayag, 1950, p. 56 If.
For the Jaina versions of the life of see Jinasena's Hariva"ua (ed.
PannalalJain, Varanasi, 1944) and Hemacandra's Tr#4f#SaliJkapuTU!a-cari/Ta,
Book VIII (translated by Helen M.Johnson, G.O.S. No. 139), Baroda, 1962.
No comparable Buddhist texts have come down to us.
The (9th centtJry) (ed. PannalalJain, Varanasi. 1963)
would appear to be the earliest text to mention these rituals for the Jaina laity.
For further details, see V. A. Sangave.Jaina Community. Bombay, 1942.
This development is perhaps symbolically shown by the typical iconographic
) 52 BUDDIllST STUDIES
representation of the Buddha as a small inset in the crown of the Bodhisattva;
his position is "highest" (in accordance with doctrine) and yet relatively
unimportant in the eyes of the worshipper.
22. This was accomplished through litigation initiated by the Mahabodhi Society
of Calcutta, an international organization, mainly representing Buddhists of
Sri Lanka and Burma. The shrines were awarded to this organization on the
basis of its contention that Singhalese and Burmese kings had for many years
provided funds for their maintenance.
23. M. Govinda Pai, "Dharmasthalada siva-lingakke Maiijunatha emba hesaru
hege bantu?" in SamarpafJl! (Felicitation Volume in Honour of Shri Manjayya
Heggade), Mangalore, 1950, pp. 65-77.
24. Concerning the origin of the Siva-linga, see note 27, below.
25. The inscription reads as follows:
Sri Kundavannii Alupendro mahipatihl
piidiiravindabhramaro Balacandra-SikhiimafJl!h/61
LokeSvarasya devasya prat#lhiim aharat prabhuhl
Srimat Kadarikaniimni Vlhare sumanahare;9 I
Kalau alikrante calu!layel
punar abdag(s)ate samanvite/lOI
SamarpafJl!, p. 70.
26. In this connection Pai quotes the following verse from a Nepalese inscription:
Sri LokeSvamya namah
Matsyendram yaginGf{' mukhyiih iiikliih saklif{' vadanli yaml
bauddhii Lokeivara1!' tasmai nama brahmasvarilpifJl!/1
Pandit Bhagavanlal Indraji and G. Buhler, "Inscriptions from Nepal", The
Indian Antiquary, June, 1880, p. 192.
27. Local Kanna4a legend concerning this shrine gives its tradi-
tional name as SuvanJa-Kada!ivana-Sri Maiijunatha Devasthana (Golden-ba-
nana-grove, the temple of Maiijunatha). This account (said to be based upon
the Bhiiradviija-samhitii) can be briefly summarized as follows :
"In ancient times Lord ParaSuriima (one ofthe avataras having
(killed the kjatriyas and) given the entire earth to the bmhma1JllS, undertook
severe penances. Siva, pleased with his performance thereof, said, "0
ParaSuriima, I have a permanent abode in the Well of Ambrosia (rasa-kupa),
located in SUvaJ1)a-kada\ivana; go there and worship me". At that time, how-
ever, SUvaJ1)a-kadalivana was temporarily covered by ocean water.
wrested the land back from the sea, and then proceeded to carry out further
penances there. At last the members of the divine Trinity, Brahma, and
MaheSvara, came together and were spontaneously manifested in the form of
themaiijunatha(i.e . theS;va..liliga) ". (Does this unusual coalescence of the
three deities perhaps reflect a confused reference to the three-faced LokeSvara
image?)
An alternate version, forming the latter part of the suggests
that Matsyendraniitha came to this place from the kingdom of Sari (probably
Kerala, where matrilineal inheritence prevailed) and, like ParaSuriima, un-
derwent severe penances to please Siva. The deity thus appeared as the
present Sivaliilga. This latter story tends to confirm the association of
Matsyendranatha with the temple in question, and even that he may
have been personally responsible for the establishment of the Siva,.liliga found
there.
DISAPPEARANCE OF BUDDI-fiSM AND 1HE SURVIVAL OF jAINISM 153
Kadri Imap of Lokemlra
For the inscription on the pedestal of this image, see note no. 25.

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