Jain Journal 1968 04

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

Page 47

APRIL, 1968
193
Dronacarya who happened to be a brother of her late husband and a disciple of Govindacarya Mahipala became a master of vyakarana, nyāya and dharmasastra After finishing his education, however, he renounced the world to be a Jaina monk himself and henceforth became known as Suracarya As a young monk Suracarya was a very hard task master and soon incurred the displeasure of the young pupils who there upon complained against him to the elder guru This was followed by a sharp rebuke and a suggestion that Suracarya must show the power of his intellect by conquering the learned assembly of Bhoja The young dialectician understood the taunt and expressed his determination to proceed to Dhara which he later did with the permission of his master and the king His intellectual feats at Dhara are recorded at length in Prabhāvakacarita
Viracarya, was a friend of Jayasimha So goes the story that one day in the course of a friendly chat the king told him that the greatness of the learned men depended upon what royal recognition they could get This wounded the pride of Viracarya who now wanted to leave the city and so give up whatever recognition the king might have bestowed on him Needless to state that Jayasimha did never really intend this So he tried to prevent him But royal power proved futile before the yogic power and Viracarya flew away to Pab in Marwad A repentant Jayasimha urged him to return which he of course did after an extensive tour of different parts of the country where he successfully overpowered several dialecticians including the Buddhists in Mahabodhapura and acquired fresh laurels Two other important events of Viracarya's life about which of course no date can be cited with authenticity were the meeting with the well-known dialectician of the Samkhya school Vadi Simha and with the Digambara dialectician Kamalakırtı both of whom he successfully defeated in public debate A man who upheld the intellectual dignity of Anahıllapura on so many occasions at and outside the capital city could not but be the most coveted friend of the ruler
Vardhamana Suri who has called himself a pupil of Govindacarya was the author of a celebrated work entitled Ganaratna-mahodadhi which was completed in AD 1141 This is a work on grammar and is unique in its subject matter
Besides them, there were Vagbhata, the son of Soma and the author of Vägbhafalamkāra, a work on poetics, and Acarya Manikyaca ndra, a commentator on Kävyaprakāśa of Mammata Vagbhata was himself a Jaina and Manikyacandra belonged to the line of Sılabhadra Sun