Yavanas and Yapaniya

[Yashwant Malaiya]

On 23 Mar 2000 I had written

>> It remind me something that is completely unrelated to this
>> verse. One Jain sect, that once existed near Konkan region
>> was named Yaapaniiya in Sanskrit (jaavNiiya in Prakrit). I
>> have wondered about the origin of the term.

>What I was wondering about is: could JaavaNiiya have been Yaavaniiya
>rather than Yaapaniiya.

I just saw Jain-Shilalekha-Samgrah, part 4, page 9. In the sixth
cent. Hoskote copperplate Sanskrit inscription of Konganyadhiraj,
the order is actually referred to as "yaavanika".

I was intrigued by the verse in darshan-sar:

kallaaNe varaNayare sattasaye pa.ncha uttare jaade
jaavaNiyasa.nghabhaavo sirikalasaado hu sevaDado

Trans: In Kalyana town, after 705 years (after the death
of King Vikrama) the "jaavaNiya" sangh arose from the shvetapata
(monk) Shrikalasha.

Tha Kadamba copper plate of Krishnavarman uses "yaapaniiya".

It is not impossible that the original term was "yaavaniiya".

Yashwant