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the order of Jain monks at the age of seven and came to be known as Somasundara. Jayanandasūri of Tapagatchha was his guru or preceptor."
Somasundara was an intelligent pupil; so he mastered the sciences within a few years and came to be known as Upadhyaya or Vachaka in A. D. 1393-4.72 By this time, he had earned name and fame as a scholar and was, therefore, given a rousing reception by the ministers Ramadeva and Chunda when he went to Devakulapataka (or Devagiri )."3
or
In A. D. 1400-01, the dignity of Acharya Doctor was conferred on Somasundarasūri by Devasundarasūri in Anahilavada. To celebrate this occasion, Narasimha Seth held a festival. Thus Somasundarasuri became the head of Tapagatchha, at the age of twenty-seven."
In Vadanagara, there were three wealthy Jain brothers named Devaraja, Hemarāja and Ghatasimha. When Somasundarasuri conferred the dignity of Upadhyaya on Munisundara, Devaraja held a festival with the consent of
(71) Somasūri, SomaSaubhagyakāvya, cantos II, III, IV. (72) Ibid, V, 11& 14.
(73) Desai, Jain Sahityano Itihas, p. 452. (74) Somasuri, Somasaubhagyakāvya, V, 51–61.
Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
www.umaragyanbhandar.com
