________________
56
JAIN JOURNAL: VOL-XXXIX, NO. 2 OCT. 2004
born in the atmosphere of a pious Jaina family and from his childhood, it was observed that he was destined to be monk. As a Jaina teacher he spent most of his life in the capital of Gujarāt which was Anahillavāda Pattana (modern Patan). At that time, Siddharāja Jayasimha (1094-1143 A.D.) was the ruler of Gujarāt. Hemacandra's literary activities started at the inspiration of Siddharāja Jayasimha, who after his war with Mālvā, became jealous of the literary glory of Ujjayinī, and asked Hemacandra to write a grammar and some literary works. Hemacandra wrote a book on grammar and dedicated it to the king, and hence the name was Siddha-Hemacandra'. He also wrote a Mahākāvya, called Kumārapālucarita, also called Dvyāšrayakāvya, where he celebrated the glory of his two patrons---Siddharāja (10941143 A.D.) and Kumārapāla (1143-1174 A.D), in Sanskrit and Prakrit. Somaprabhā-cārya (2nd half of 12th A.D.), a junior contemporary with Hemacandra has nicely described the literary achievements of Hemacandra in the following verse:
k!ptair vyākaraṇam navam viracitam chando navam, dvyāśrayālaikārau prathitau navau prakațitam śrīvogaśāstram navam/ tarkaḥ sanjanito navo jinavarādinām caritram navam baddham vena na kena kena vidhinā mohaḥ krto durataḥ.
“He composed a new grammar (i.e. the Siddha-Hemacandra), a new science of metrics (the Chandonušāsana), the Dvyāśraya-kāvya and the Alam kāra-śāstra (i.e. the Kāvyānusāsana), a new Yogaśāstra, a new logic (i.e. the Pramāņa-mimānsā), and a new biography of the Jinas (i.e. the Trişastisālākāpuruşa-caritra and the Parisistaparvan). In what way has he not removed our ignorance ?"
Hemacandra also wrote several other works, such as, Abhidhānacintamani, Anekārthasamgraha and others.
Before we enter into the problem, it will be our prime duty to enumerate the available works of Hemacandra upon which this edifice of socio-political history of India is based. Hemacandra was one of
1. B.J. Sandesara. Literary Circle etc. p.11. 2. Ibid p 11.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
