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CCLII
Kavyanu sasana
Jainism was then rich in philosophers and dialectcians of a very high order, some of whose works have survived to this day.
It was in Āsāpalli (- the older name of Karnăvati, and the modern Ahmedabad - ) that the seeds of discord between Kumudachandra and Devasūri were sown. Both of them were staying for the monsoon in that city, This must be the monsoon of the year V. S. 1180-A. D. 1124. According to the M. K. C., Devasūri, at first, did not mind the vauntings of Kumudachandra and rather tried to practice the 'Şama' or 'control of anger' which was his religious duty to do. But his correligionists and disciples would not put up with the boastings of this naked dialectician when they had a man like Devasūri with them. So when an old nun was harrassed by Kumudachandra, Devasūri was roused to fight and so he sent word to the Jaina sangha of Anahillapura. Aşahillapura welcomed his suggestion, and Devasūri sent an invitation to Kumudachandra to meet him in the court of Siddharāja Jayasimha which the latter readily accepted. It appears there were many machinations from both the sides to prejudice the issue. Devasūri, however, strictly forbade his party to try underhand means and even though, at first, he had some difficulty with the minister Gāngila, he got a fair hearing in the court of Jayasimha.
“Both the protagonist and antagonist were called to the debating hall ” says the Pra. Cha., "on the fullmoon-day of Vaisakha. V. S. 1181-A. D. 1125 ( v. 193, p. 290 ). We are not told whether this was the first or the last day of the debate. The questions at issue were whether souls in feminine incarnation could
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