________________
20
Abhayadeva Malladhari was another learned Jain monk of the time of Siddharaja. He obtained the biruda Malladhari from king Karna or Siddharaja of Anahilavada. He was honoured by king Khengara of Saurastra. At his suggestion, a Jain temple was erected in Medată, Ajmer, and a pilgrim tax was abolished by Raja Bhuvanapala. Prithviraja I, son of Vigraharāja III, is said to have adorned a Jain temple with a golden knob at Abhayadeva's persuasion.46
near
Abhayadevasūri, a pupil of Jayasimhasūri, belonged to the Praśnavāhana kula, Kotikagana, Madhyamaśākha and Harshapuriya Gatchha. He was a successful missionary and helped many Brahmins to embrace Jainism. He was held in high esteem by Jayasimha, king of Anahilavāda, whom he persuaded to forbid the destruction of life for eight days in Paryushana." According to Peterson, Siddharaja and his retinue attended
46 Desai, Jain Sahityano Itihasa, pp. 227-9. 47 Gandhi L. B., "Siddharaja and Jains ", No. 8; Hiralal Hansaraj, Jain Dharmano Itihasa, I, p. 3. Peterson makes a mistake here. He says that Jayasimha forbade the destruction of life on the 8 th and the 14 th of the bright and dark halves of the month and the fifth of the bright half (Peterson, IV, App., p. 8). The same mistake is repeated by Hiralal Hansaraja (Loc. Cit. I, p. 4) and in the Abhidhānarājendra, p. 707.
Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
www.umaragyanbhandar.com
