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JAIN JOURNAL
Vol. XXXIX
No. 4 April
2005
BAPPABHATTI SŪRI AND JAINISM IN BENGAL
Chitta Ranjan Pal
Bappabhatți Sūri was the most honoured Jaina monk of his time. It is said that he belonged to the Modha Gaccha' of the Svetāmbara sect of the Jainas. His spiritual attainments, theological knowledge, literary talent, dialectical skill as well as his zeal for the promotion of Jaina religion made him a legendary figure even during his life-time.
Bappabhatti's religious activities were not confined to his native kingdom alone, but extended over to different regions of the then India. In a medieval tradition quoted by Jinaprabha Sūri? it is told that he had organised a restoration of the old stūpas made by Gods at Mathura, thirteen hundred years after Mahāvīra, the last Tīrthankara of the Jainas.
In the Upadeśatarangini of Ratnamandira Ganin (15th century A.D.), there is a legend which states that Ācārya Bappabhațți and his royal patron, King Ama were implored to intervene in the dispute between the Digambara and the Svetāmbara sects over the possession of the Girnar Hill.3
Prabhāvaka-carita, a collection of biographies of twenty-two Jain Ācāryas, was written by Prabhācandra in the 13th century A.D. Prabhācandra in a terse, succinct and well-knit couplet (śloka) had brought to our view multifaced talents of this learned Ācārya.
1. Sadhvi Samghamitrā “Variştha Vidvān Ācārya Bappabhatti," śramaņa, Vol
xiv, no 4. 2. Jain Journal, Vol III, No. 4 Māhāvira Jayanti Special, 1969. 3. Upadeśatarangini, Chapter IV, quoted from Ramāprased Chanda's
“Svetāmbara & Digambara images.
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