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INTRODUCTION
Sultan Mahomed Taghluq to do so, when they returned to the Upāśraya (place for stay of Jain Sādhus) after their first interview with him. Caityavāsis used to do so formerly and their opponents considered it to be one of their lax practices. Sūrācārya did so and before him Siddhasena Divākara as well as Bappabhattisūri did so. It really illustrates the necessity for making exceptions even on the part of the ideal Sadhus on special occasions for the greater good of the Jain fold and for enhancing the credit of the Jain religion in the eye of the public.
The reasons why Sri Jinaprabhasūri's services to the Jain Sangha do not appear to have been fully appreciated appear to be (i) that he was not in the main line of Khartaragaccha (ii) the unseemly quarrels which sometimes took place between members of different gacchas and (iii) the absence of a suitable biography. We consider his achievements even higher than those of Sri Hiravijayasūri as religious bigotry was at its zenith in his times and he had to deal with a Sultan who was nicknamed 'the mad' owing to his senseless conduct devoid of reason. *
Sri Guņabhadrasūri, Sri Munibhadrasūri, Sri Mahendrasūri the famous astronomer and mathematician and Sri Ratnasekharasūri were recipients of great honours at the Court of Firoz Tughlaq. This shows that the position and influence aquired for the Jains by Sri Jinaprabhasūri were retained during the reign of Firoz Tughlaq although the latter was a great fanatic and followed strictly verdicts of Ulemas and spared no pains to convert Hindus to Islam.
ŚRI JINAKUŠALASURI After Sri Jinadattasūri and Manidhāri Sri Jinacandrasūri, it was Sri Jinakusalasüri who bore the honorific title of 'Dādāji'. He is equally famous as a great Māntrika as already stated. He was born in 1337 Vikram era at Samiyāņā of Jilhāgar and Jayantasri parents of Chājhadagotra and
* For some of the information about Sri Jina prabhasűri the writer is indebted to the small but valuable Gujarati book of bis learned friend Pt. Lālacandra B. Gandhi entitled "Sri Jinaprabhasűri and Sultan Mahomed."
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