Jain Journal 2000 04

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

Page 34

THE RĀṢTRAKŪTAS AND JAINISM
PROF. KAMALA HAMPANA
After vanquishing the Calukyas of Bādāmi (Vātāp:) the Rāṣṭrakūtas, the greatest of India's imperial dynasties, founded a great kingdom, vaster than any before their times, which included most of Dakṣinapatha. The Rāṣṭrakūța era ushered in the golden age of Jaina renaissance in all walks of life. The Rāṣṭrakūta kingdom was so enormous that it was considered as one of the four major kingdoms in the world, according to Suleman (A.D. 851), the famous Arabbi travellor.
The powerful Dantidurga had conquered the shaky Calukyas and invading northern India had seized Avanti, assumed the imperial title of Rajaparameśvara in A.D. 753. Kṛṣṇarāja-I (C.E. 758-72) succeeded his uncle Dantidurga, sealed the fate of the Calukyas and started constructing Ellora temple. Reputed Jaina logician BhaṭṭaAkalankadeva lived as a contemporary to these two monarchs. According to Peterson, Akalankadeva and his brother Niskalanka were the sons of Subhatunga alias Kṛṣṇaraja-I, the Raṣṭrakuța emperor. Akalanka has been regarded as the founder of the medieval school of logic. He confuted the Buddhists at the court of Himasitala in Kanci in C.E. 788. It is also believed that he studied at Sravanabelagola and became a monk at Maleyur, also known as Kanakagiri (Mysore Dt).
The dialectician Akalankadēva has a number of works to his credit, prominent among them being 1. Tattva-ratna-rāja-vārtika, a commentary on the Tattvārtha-sūtra of pontiff Umāsvāmi, 2. Siddhiviniscaya, 3. Laghiyastrayi, 4. Aṣṭasati, the earliest commentary on the Aptamimāmsā (Dēvāgama-stōtra) of Samantabhadradeva (7th cent. A.D.), and other works on Jaina epistomology and logic.
The Mallisena-Prasasti of Śravanabelagola mentions Akalankadēva as a prestigious dialectic disputant at the court of Sahasatunga Dantidurga. It states that there was no other grandeur king like Kṛṣṇarāja on earth and no other erudite scholar like Akalanka. He remained a popular poet and his works are highly venerated.
Vidyananda alias Patrakēsarin wrote Apta-mimāmsālankära (Astasahasri), an exhaustive commentary on the Apta-mimāmsā of Samantabhadradēva. Vidyananda has followed Aṣṭasati of Akalankadeva as his guide. The illustrious Jaina connoisseur