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ÄCHÄRYA HEMCHANDRA Chapter 25 - Ächärya Hemchandra
Ächärya Hemchandra was born in 1088 A.D. in the caste of Modha Vanik (merchant) in the town of Dhandhuka, sixty miles from the city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat State. His parents were Chachadev and Pahini. When Pahini was pregnant, she had a beautiful dream. She narrated her dream to Acharya Devasuri, who was in Dhandhuka at that time. The Acharya said that Pahini was to give birth to a son who would make great progress in the areas of spiritual knowledge, intuition, and conduct. Upon his birth the child was named Changdev.
The next time Acharya Devasuri was in Dhandhuka, he saw Pahini carrying her son. He said to Pahini, "Let me take care of this brilliant son. He is destined to be a great spiritual leader." However, he could not convince her to give her son to him. The Acharya kept pursuing her and reminding her that her son would become a famous monk and would glorify the Jain order. Again, he requested that she should sacrifice self-interest and love for the child for the good of the people. Ultimately, Pahini let the Acharya take her son with him.
He initiated Changdev into monkhood and named him Somachandra. The disciple was very intelligent and soon mastered various philosophies, logic, scriptures, Nyäya, grammar, etc. At the same time, he cultivated excellent virtues like forbearance, tolerance, holiness, simplicity, discipline, chastity, and generosity. Somachandra was incomparable in administration and efficiency. Acharya Devasuri made Somachandra an Ächärya when he was only twenty-one years old. At that time, he was given the name Acharya Hemchandra.
The fame of Hemchandra's efficacy and knowledge gradually
spread everywhere. The noble culture was on the rise in Gujarat due to the ability of Hemchandra and the cooperation of King Siddharäj of Gujarat. King Siddharaj was succeeded by Kumärpäl. Hemchandra had predicted seven years earlier that Kumärpäl would be the king. Also, the Acharya had once saved Kumärpäl's life. King Kumärpäl considered Hemchandra his spiritual teacher (guru) and benefactor. Kumärpäl gave him exceptional honor and sought his advice in the shaping of his kingdom in Gujarat. In a very short time, Gujarat became a center of non-violence, learning, and good culture.
Hemchandra did not only think of the development of his own spiritual progress, but always thought of universal welfare. In spite of this, some Brahmins were very jealous and they tried to disgrace Hemchandrächärya and Jainism. Some Brahmins approached King Kumärpäl and said, "Hemchandrächärya is a very egoistic person and he does not respect Hindu Gods." King Kumärpäl was not ready to accept these views about his spiritual teacher, Hemchandrächärya. The Brahmins requested King Kumärpäl to invite Hemchandrächärya to come to the temple of Lord Shiva. The purpose of this was to humiliate Hemchandrächärya because they thought he would not go to the temple of Lord Shiva and bow down to him. When Hemchandrächärya came, King Kumärpäl said, "We will go to the temple of Lord Shiva." He accepted the offer without any hesitation. The Brahmins were happy in their mind thinking
JAIN PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE I
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