Jain Journal 1968 04

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

Page 50

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activities extended upto the middle of the reign of king Karna He was born in a wealthy family at Dhara, his parents being Mahıdhara and Dhana Devi He became famous as the Navāngt-tıkākāra or a commentator of the nine Angas of the Jainas We do not know whether the Kasmiri scholar Bilhana who had visited the royal court of Karna had met this great master and what impact the latter might have made on the Kasmiri poet but it may be presumed without much difficulty that about the time we are mentioning there was an abundant contact at the intellectual level between Kasmira and Gujarat and no less a person than Hemacandra cherished the ambition of propitiating the goddess of learning whom he has described as kāsmiravāsinim devim To return to Ahbayadeva Surı, he was not only a celebrated commentator, but he was also a great builder He collected a handsome contribution from the richmen of Dholka and the requisite site from the villagers and completed the construction of a big temple in honour of Parsvanatha on the bank of the river Sedhi in Gujarat
Deva Suri's name has been already cited earlier He was a profound scholar and on the admission of Mudrita-Kumudacandra he was an accredited authority on Kanada, Aksapada, Udyotahara, Vacaspati and Udayana He was in the intellectual line of Santi Suri and was a worthy disciple of Municandra His magnum opas, a work on logic, as aforesaid, is Pramāna-naya-tattvālokālamkāra and its commentary Syadvādaratnākara He was the author of several other works and was succeeded by worthy disciples like Manikya, Asoka, Vijayasend and many others That Deva Surt had cast profound influence can be seen from the praise bestowed on him alike by his contemporaries such as Devabodha of the Bhagavata sect, Hemacandra himself and the dramatist Yasascandra and illustrious men of posterity like the great logician Yasovijaya The greatest event of his life was indeed the 'silencing' of Kumudacandra in the public debate but for which, as Hemacandra admits, there would have been no Svetambara in Gujarat
According to the information contained in Prabhāvaka carita, Deva Suri was born in 1087 AD His fathers' name was Viranaga who belonged to the Pragvata family His mother's name was Jipadevi Originally their family belonged to Maddahrta (modern Madhar in Palanpur State) But later because of an epidemic in this part of the country, the family migrated to Bhrgukaccha in Lata Economically the family was not very well off Deva Suri's previous name was Purnacandra but after his renunciation in his ninth year which was conducted by the family preceptor Municandra, the name was changed into Ramacandra Very soon he mastered tarka, laksana and sahitya (tarkalakşanasahityavidyāpāram