Comprehensive History of Jainism Volume II

Author(s): Aseem Kumar Chaterjee
Publisher: Firma KLM Pvt Ltd

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COMPREHENSIVE HISTORY OF JAINISM
his governor at Sauraṣṭra to build steps for Girnar, which according to the Tirthakalpa168, was completed in V.S. 1220. Kumarapala's pilgrimage to Satruñjaya is recorded both in the Moharajaparajaya16 and Kumarapalapratibodha165, not to speak of other later works. According to the latter work, Bahaḍa repaired the temple of Rṣabha, on behalf of the king at this place
From a short episode, recorded in the Puratanaprabandhasangrahale, we can have an idea about some of the brilliant Jain contemporaries of this great monarch. We are told by its author that during his religious tour of the sacred Jain places of Gujarat, he was accompanied by the following persons-the son of Udayana viz. Vägbhata, who is given the epitheat caturviṁśati prāsada kārāpakah (the builder of 24 great temples), Abhaḍa (the merchant), Śrīpāla of the Pragvata family (who is given the epithet Şaḍbhāṣācakravarti), his son Siddhapala (the great poet), Kapardin (the treasurer), Prahladana of the Paramāra family (the founder of the town of Prahladanapura), Pratāpamalla (the dauhitra of the king), Chāḍāka ( the billionaire tycoon), Jinacandra (of the Kharatara gaccha), Dharmasari of the Caitra gaccha, Hemacandra himself and a few other prominent nuns. Some of these personalities will be discussed elsewhere in the present work. However, a few words should be recorded on the poet Śrīpāla. This gentleman was one of the greatest literary figures of Gujarat of that age. He was the author of the Vaḍnagar Prasasti167 of Kumārapäla, dated V.S. 1238 (c. 1151 A.D.). From this epigraph we learn that he was the adopted brother of Siddharāja. This is confirmed by the evidence of Somaprabhācārya, who wrote his work in V.S. 1241, in the vasati of Śrīpāla 168 This particular work also gives a good deal of information about his son Siddhapāla, who was very close to Kumārapāla. The son of this Siddhapāla was the playwright Vijayapāla, the author of the two-act play Draupadisvayamvara169. We should also mention here another very prominent Jain