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Dr. Charlotte Krause: Her Life & Literature
Thus, according to some of them, Hemavimala Sūri was born in V.S. 1520 and ordained in V.S. 1528, but according to others, in V.S. 1522 and 1538 respectively. Some state his secular name to have been 'Hadarāja', and his monk's name ( prior to becoming an Acārya) 'Hemavimala', others, however, 'Hādakumāra and Hemadharma' respectively.
Yet in main points, they appear to be unanimous. He was ordained as a monk by Acārya Lakṣmīsāgara Sūri, the 53rd Tapā Gaccha pontiff, who, in turn, was the third in succession from the famous Munisundara Sūri mentioned above. Lakṣmīsāgara Suri's
immediate successor, Acarya Sumatisādhu Sūri, became our poet's teacher, and bestowed on him the title of Acarya in V.S. 1548, since when he has been known as 'Hemavimala Suri'. As such, he became the 54th Tapā Gaccha pontiff after Sumatisādhu Sūri's death in V.S. 1551.
Prior to Hemavimala Suri's investiture with the Acarya title, Sumatisādhu Sūri had bestowed this title on two other pupils, viz., Indranandin and Kamala-kalaśa, but had decided later on to nominate the junior Hemavimala his successor as head of the Gaccha, in supersession of the other two. Thus, the spiritual descendents of the latter came to be considered as side branches of the Tapā Gaccha, under the names of Kutubapura Gaccha and Kamalakalasa Gaccha respectively, while the main line, carried on by Hemavimala Suri's pupils, is designated as the Palhanapurā Śākhā or Hema Śākhā. It is this line which represents the Tapa Gaccha now-a-days, and which has produced celebrities like Akbar's spiritual guide Hiravijaya Sūri, the great logician and poet Yasovijaya, the popular poet Vīravijaya, and the far-sighted reformer and scholar Vijayadharma Sūri of venerable memory.
To judge from the above soruces, Hemavimala must have been an outstanding personality, who exercised great influence over his contemporaries and commanded their unrestrained respect, mainly by the integrity of his character and the strictness of the
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