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70 / The Rāştrakūtas and Jainism
4.3.4. Akalanka, an ardent advocate of syādvāda theory was a poet too. His devotional work, Akalarkastötra, though contains some interpolated stanzas, is read and recited with devotion. Pramāņa-samgraha with 871/2 verses has nine cantos and an auto-gloss. Hundred's of inscriptions of Karņāțaka open with the Sanskrit invocatory verse of Akalanka taken from his brilliant work Pramāņasamgraha :
Srimat-parama gambhira syādvādāmogha lāñchanam jiyāt trailokya nāthasya śāsanam Jinaśāsanam
May the doctrine of Jina be victorious - the doctrine of the Lord of the three worlds, the unfailing characteristic of which is the glorious and most profound syādvāda, the doctrine of qualified assertion.
4.3.4.1. Akalanka's works divulge his scintillating intellect and incisive insight of a master genius. He was the protagonist who laid solid foundation for greater progress achieved by later Jaina logicians. The following verse from Akalanka carita, employing the metaphor of pun, is worth meditating:
kim vādyo bhagavān=amëya mahimā dīvā=akalankah kalau kālē yö janatāsu dharma nihito devõ=akalanko jinah
4.3.5. Ugrāditya (C.E. 770-840) has made robust contribution to the science of medicine. Primarily advocating vegetarianism, his wealth of prescription has more relevance to the modern world. Ugrāditya Pandita has authored a perennial Jaina medical text called Kalyāṇakāraka, “means to prosperity.
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