Book Title: Introduction to Jainism and its Culture
Author(s): Balbhadra Jain
Publisher: Kundkund Gyanpith Indore

Previous | Next

Page 260
________________ historical information. It is very useful for historians. He predated Pūjyapāda. Ācārya Yogīndradeva - He was a spiritual poet and wrote his works in Apabhraíśa language. His available works are – Paramātmāprakaśa, Yogasāra, Nijātmașațaka, and Amstasīti. He belongs to the sixth century. Acārya Pātra Kesari - He was a Brahmin scholar living in Ahicchatra. He had five hundred disciples. Once he went to the Parávanātha temple to pay homage. There an ascetic named Cāritrabhūṣaṇa was reciting the Devāgama stotra (panegyric). Pātra Kesari requested him to recite it once again and listened to it attentively. He had an astonishing memory. Hearing just once he memorized the panegyric. During the night he pondered over it. He had some doubts about speculation and evidence. Next day he again went to the temple and found that some couplets were written over the hood of the snake in the image. He contemplated over this new text and his doubts were removed. Believing Jain religion to be authentic he got initiated as an ascetic. He amply contributed towards the spread of Jainism. He was a renowned philosopher. His works are – Trilaksaņa and Jinendra Gunastuti. He period is sometime between 6th and 7th century. Ācārya Akalankadeva - Puruśottama, the minister of king śubhatunga of Mānyakheța had two sons named Akalanka and Nikalanka. One day the two sons went to pay homage to a Jain ascetic Ravigupta with their parents. The ascetic inspired the minister and his wife to take a vow of celibacy for the duration of Aștānhikā festival. The two boys also took this vow. When the two boys matured and their parents talked of their marriage, the boys said that they had taken the vow of celibacy for life. The parents tried their best to make them disregard the vow but they did not agree. The boys were so intelligent that Akalanka could memorize anything he heard once and Nikalarka when he heard twice. They took to study of Jain scriptures and became great scholars. Then they wanted to study Buddhist philosophy. They joined a Buddhist institute under false names and in disguise and started their studies. One day they were caught and imprisoned. From the prison they eloped with the help of a guard. While they were running away the soldiers caught Nikalanka and a washerman who was also running with him and beheaded the two. Akalanka hid in a pond and saw everything. After 243 Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334