Yapaniya

Yapaniya was a Jain order in western Karnataka which is now extinct. The first inscription that mentions them by Mrigesavarman (AD 475-490) a Kadamba king of Palasika who donated for a Jain temple, and made a grant to the sects of Yapaniyas, Nirgranthas (identifiable as Digambaras), and the Kurchakas (not identified).^[1]

The last inscription which mentioned the Yapaniyas was found in the Tuluva region southwest Karnataka, dated Saka 1316 (AD 1394).^[2]

According to Darshana-Sara, they were a branch of the Svetambara sect. However, they were regarded to be Digambara by Swetambar authors. The Yapaniya monks remained naked but followed some Svetamabar views. They also possessed their own versions of texts that have been preserved in the Svetambar tradition.

The great grammarian Shakatayana, who was a contemporary of the Rashtrakuta king Amoghavarsha (c. 817-877), was a Yapaniya, as mentioned by Malayagira in his commentary on the NandiSutra.

Decline

Yapanya rose to its dominance in second century CE and declined after their migration to Deccan merging with Digambara or Svetambara.^[3]

See also

• Jainism in Karnataka
• Jainism in Tulu Nadu

Notes

1. "Yapaniyas". Jainworld.com. Retrieved 2012-04-22.
2. Jainism in South India and Some Jaina Epigraphs By Pandurang Bhimarao Desai, 1957, Published by Gulabchand Hirachand Doshi, Jaina Saṁskṛti Saṁrakshaka Sangha
3. Jaini 1991, p. 45.

References

• Jaini, Padmanabh S. (1991), Gender and Salvation: Jaina Debates on the Spiritual Liberation of Women, University of California Press, ISBN 0-520-06820-3