]a ga[n.]a_ with the _Pritidharmika kula._ Each of
these names is, however, somewhat mutilated by one or more errata in
writing. [Footnote: Dr. Buehler's long note (p. 48) on these inscriptions
was afterwards expanded in the _Wiener Zeitschrift fur die Kunde des
Morgenlandes_ Bd. I, S. 165-180; Bd. II, S. 141-146. Bd. III, S.
233-240; and Bd. IV, S. 169-173. The argument of these papers is
summarised in. Appendix. A, pp. 48 ff.--Ed.] The statements in the
inscriptions about the teachers and their schools are of no small
importance in themselves for the history of the Jainas. If, at the end of
the first century A.D.(?) many separate schools of Jaina ascetics existed,
a great age and lively activity, as well as great care as regards the
traditions of the sect, may be inferred. The agreement of the inscriptions
with the _Kalpasutra_ leads still further however: it proves on the
one side that the Jainas of Mathura were ['S]vetambara, and that the
schism, which split the sect into two rival branches occurred long before
the beginning of our era. On the other hand it proves that the tradition
of the Svetambara really contains ancient historic elements, and by no
means deserves to be looked upon with distrust. It is quite probable that,
like all traditions, it is not altogether free from error. But it can no
longer be declared to be the result of a later intentional
misrepresentation, made in order to conceal the dependence of Jainism on
Buddhism.
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