Ancient Jaina Hymns

Author(s): Charlotte Krause
Publisher: SCIndia Oriental Institute Ujain

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REMARKS ON THE TEXTS
of the bulky contemporaneous literature in praise of their achievements, it is particularly the “VastupālaTejapāla-Prasasti” that interests us here. Its author is Jayasimha Sūri, pupil of Vīrasūri”, and Acārya of the Munisuvrata Temple of Broach. The Prasasti is believed to have originally been incised on a stone slab in the Sakunikā-vihāra Temple which Ambada had reerected, but is now only preserved in a MS. In this Prasasti, Jayasimha Sūri relates how he once requested Tejpīla on a visit of the latter to Broach, to replace the bamboo staffs on the 25 chapels (“devakulikā”, st. 67) of the Munisuvrata Temple of the "Mandalesvara Ambada" by golden ones, so as to match their golden pinnacles (''kalyāna-kumbha", st. 67) obviously those which Sāntu had donated, and Devabhadra Sūri mentioned. With the consent and assistance of his elder brother Vastupāla, Tejapāla had complied with this request of the Acārya (st. 64-69). The Prasasti also extolls Vastupāla for having installed images of Pārsvanātha and Mahavira in Ambada's Sakunikā-vihāra Temple (st. 63).
The Prasasti is not dated, nor does it mention the dates of those events. The circumstances of the poet are not known either, except the fact that he composed another work in honour of the two brothers, viz., the drama "Hammira-Mada-Mardana';, the oldest MS. of which is dated V. S. 1286, and which is stated to have been acted at Cambay at the order of Vastupāla's son Jaitrasimha“. It celebrates the victory of the two
(1) Published in "Hammira-Mada-Mardana". Gaekwad's Oriental Series, X. p. 59 ff. vide also M. D. Desai, 1.1., paras. 529 and 552 and Winternitz, 1. 1., II, p. 547.
(2) Hammira-Mada-Mardana, 1. 1., p. 2, st. 5. (3) Vido supra. (4) M. D. Desai, para. 552.
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