________________
I. LIFE AND PERSONALITY OF
HEMACANDRA
The life of Hemacandra has been depicted by many of his contemporary as well as later annalists. Some of the significant annals are the Kumārapālapratibodha of Somaprabha', the Prabhāvakacarita of Prabhāvakācārya", Prabandhacintātmaņi of Merutunga', Prabandhakośa of Rājasekhara“, Purātatanaprabandhasangraha", a collection of old semi-historical stories and Kumārapālacaritasangraha®, a collection of stories related to the life of Kumārapāla. G. Bühler, in his scholarly monograph', has made use of many other stories in this connection.
According to Prabhāvakācārya, Hemcandra was born in Vikrama Saṁvat 1145 i. e. 1088 A. DS.
His birth place was Dhandhuka', situated in Ardhāstama District10. According to Purātanaprabandhasangrahall and Kumārapālacaritasangraha,12 the name of his lineage was Moda. Perhaps Moda was a sub caste. His father's name was 1. Ed. Jinavijaya muni, G.O.S. Baroda, 1920. 2. Ed. Jipavijaya muni, Calcutta, 1940. 3. Ed. Jipavijaya muni, Santiniketana, 1933. 4. Ed. Jinavijaya muni, śāntiniketana, 1935 5. Ed. Jinavijaya muni, Calcutta, 1936. 6. Ed. Jinavijaya mudi, Bombay, 1956. 7. Bühler, G. The life of Hemacandrācārya Tr. by Manilal Patel,
Šāntiniketana, 1936. 8. Prabhāvakacarita, p. 212. 9. Other names for Dhandhuka are: Dhandhūka (Prabbāvakacarita, p.
183), Dhandhukka (Purātadaprabandhasangraha, p. 123). and Dhandhukkaka (Kumārapālacaritasangraha, p. 18). It appears that simple name is Dhandhuka and the other names are substitutes due to
phonetic variants. 10. Prabandhacintāmaņi, p.83. 11. Purātanaprabandhasangraba, p. 123. 12. Kumārapälacaritasangraba, pp. 18-19,
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org