Jain Journal 1968 04

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 22

ITO
JAIN JOURNAL
Cangadeva 2 In these days, the boy's mind does not delight in anything except dharma" (p 21)
The guru Devacandra said, "If the boy is initiated in the order, it would be nice We shall take him and teach him the truth of all the fästras He will do good to the people like a Tirthankara So you ask his father Cacca to permit him to enter the religious order” (p 21)
The father, out of affection for his son, does not give the necessary permission But the boy was determined to become a monk, so he left his home, being encouraged by his maternal uncle With his guru he came to Khambhatittha that is modern Cambay, and was ordained a monk there after satisfying the Samgha (congregation of laymen and monks) He was given the name of Somacandra After practising the tapa (austerities) taught by the Jaina Agamas "he crossed, within a short time, the whole ocean of learning" His guru Sri Devacandra seeing that he possessed a number of qualities impossible to acquire in this iron age, established him in the position of a Ganadhara, that is he was made an Acārya and a leader of other monks Because his body had the colour of gold, he was called Hemacandra (
p22)
Hemacandra was moving about various provinces But he was asked by a goddess not to go to other countries leaving Gurjarat country "You will do great benefit by staying here" Obeying this divine order Hemacandra gave up going out to other countries, and lived in Gujarat awakening many people
The minister continues the narrative It was to him (Hemacandra) that the world-famed Siddhuraja, the crest-Jewel of the learned, used to ask all his doubts At the suggestion of Jayasımhadeva, this lord of munis composed the grammar known as Siddha-Hema, a work which is the treasure-house of the science of all languages"
"So if you want to know the nature of dharma as it is, consult with devotion this best of the munis" (p 22)
This brief account, in fact, gives the main events of Hemacandra's life and is, on the whole, reliable The later accounts fill in the details
1 After this, the dream that Pahint dreamt when this boy was conceived is Darrated This shows that Hemacandra was becoming a legendary figure in a work completed 12 years after his death Cacca belonged to the Modha community