Jainism & Buddhism in South India
Jainism and Buddhism, the two-Vedic faiths that had their birth in a far corner of North India in the course of four centuries. The advent of Buddhism in South India and Ceylon, according to Buddhist tradition, took place during Asoka's time. He sent his son Mahinda to Ceylon King Tissa and his people. Mahinda passed through Kaveripumpattinam. Jainism, which is admittedly an older faith, entered the South a little earlier during the time of Asoka's grand-father Chandragupta Maurya. The advent of Jain monks to the south is graphically described in a 9th century inscription nat Sravanabelagola, Mysore. According to it, the last of the Sutra Kevalins' Bhadrabahusvami foretold the impending severe famine in Ujjain and "led the whole Jaina Sangha to the South". Chandra Gupta the contemporary Mauryan emperor who was a Jain and a disciple of Bhadrabahu abdicated his throne in favour of is son and joined his guru and reached Sravanabelagola. Bhadrabahu sent out emissaries under the leadership of one Visakhamuni to the southerly lands of the Chola and Pandya countries to spread the Jain faith. Later, he performed Sallekhana penance and gave up his life. Chandra Gupta did likewise after 12 years. These incidents are related in the work celled Brihat-Katha Kosam, written in the 10th century by Harisena and later traditional works of the Jains. Here is a temple named Chandragupta Basti at Sravanabelagola datable to the 10th century. There are sculptural panels depicting the incident connected with this Jain migration. Thus we can say that Jainism entered South sometime around 300 B.C. and from Sravanabelagola in Mysore, it made its further thrust into the Tamil country. The successors of Bhadrabahu are also mentioned in the Sravanabelagola inscription, one of them being the Samanthabhadra, the famous Digambara writer of the 2nd century A. D. According to the inscription, he made extensive tours in the Maghada, Sindhu etc. His visit to Kanchi is especially mentioned. The later Jain work also mentions Samanthabhadra's activity at Kanchi in spreading the Jain faith.
Not only did Jainism come earlier to the south but it was also undoubtedly more popular than Buddhism throughout. It is interesting to note in this connection that while in Andhra, it was Buddhism which was very popular with its leading centers like Amaravati, Nagarjunakonda, Battiprolu, Salihundam, Jaggayapetta etc., it was Jainism which captivated the people of the Karnataka, Kalinga and Tamilnadu. Expect the mention of a few Buddhist poets like llama Bodiyar the earlier Tamil literature is very reticent about Buddhism. Buddhism began to have some influence and that too was restricted to a few centers like Kanchi, Kaveripattinam and later Nagappattinam. But Jainism, on the other hand, penetrated into the heart of the Tamil country and its influence spread to even remote villages all over Tamilnadu. The distribution of numerous Jain caverns and beds with early Brahmi inscriptions found in such out-of-the-way hills and villages in the southern districts of Tamilnadu, clearly testify to the popularity of the faith and its hold on the masses. Because of this popularity of Jainism, Tevaram hymners like Sambandar were particularly severe in their attack on Jainism. In his Padikam on Madurai temple, Sambandar refers to the colony of Jain monks at Anamalai and accuses them of spreading the unorthodox and evil practices. The Periyapuranam and later Temple chronicles contain stories of persecution of the Jains at places like Madurai and Tiruvottur (in N. Arcot District). These stories again go to show that Jainism was a powerful and deep-rooted force in Tamilnadu. From the beginning, the Jain ascetics adapted themselves well to the local conditions and identified themselves with the lowly and the masses. They put themselves in the vanguard of the literary development and have left indelible mark on Tamil literature.
Though Jainism, like Buddhism, received a set-back during the days of the Alvars and Nayanmars, it did not fail or disappear. It continued to play its part, though in a limited sphere in later times also.
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