Jain Journal 2004 01

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

Page 50

S.R. BANERJEE: UNDERSTANDING JAIN RELIGION
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the reign of king Sammattarāya of Citoda. (S.R. Banerjee, Introducing Jainism, Calcutta, 2002, pp. 33-34).
Again it was in the 12" century that we had “the Omniscient of the Kali Age” (Kali-kala-sarvajña) Hemacandra (1088-1172A.D.) of Gujarat who not only wrote on Jain philosophy but also on grammar, lexicography, poetics and metrics, of the Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In fact, the growth of Jainism was distinct after the monumental works of Hemacandra. It was because of Hemacandra that Gujarat became the main stronghold of the Svetāmbara Jainas and had remained so for centuries. In fact, the Jain literature flourished to a great extent in the 12th and 13th centuries in Gujarat. Hemacandra wrote several works, such as, Siddha-hema-sabdānuśāsana, Dhātupātha, Oņādi-sūtra, Lingānusāsana on grammar; and, Abhidhāna-cintāmaņi, Anekārthasangraha, Nighanļu-seșa. Ekākṣara-nămamālā, Desīnāmamālā on lexicography; and Chando'nuśāsana, Kāvyānušāsana on metrics and rhetorics; and Dvyāšraya-kāvya, Trișaști-salākā-puruşa-carita, Parisişta-parvan (Sthavirāvali), Jaina Rāmāyaṇa on Mahākāvyas, and Pramāņa-mimamsā, Anya-yoga-vyava-cchedikā (in 32 verses) and Yogasāstra on philosophy. Hemacandra attacked Brahmanical morality, particularly on Manu, and had shown convincingly that the morality as proclaimed by Manu was incompatible with the command of Ahimsā.
In the 17th century we also have Yaśovijaya (1624-1688 A.D.) whose contribution to Jainism was a turning point in the Jain history. He was the first who tried to reconcile the differences between the Svetāmbara and the Digambara conflict. It was he who wanted "to prove that the Kevalin, the completely Enlightened, so long as he leads a physical life, must take nourishment, that women can attain to release, and that the ordinary objects of usage of the monks, garments etc, are not to be counted as “possessions”, and that the saintly life does not exclude life in the world. (Winternitz, History of Indian Literature, Vol. II, p. 593). Though he is not a prolific writer, he seems to be a bulky writer. All his works are full of thoughts and ideas. His Adhyātma-parikṣā in Prakrit with a Sanskrit commentary by the author himself, is a treatise on self-realisation. His Jñāna-bindu