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Hemachandracharya
Vinod Kapashi
Hemachandra was born in a Vanik family in 1088 A.D. in a small town called Dhandhuka in Gujarat. His father Chaching and his mother Chahini were devoted Jains. Hemachandra was only eight years old when he left his parents and his home to go with a famous Jain monk Devchandra, who initiated the young child into monkhood. Hemachandra practised the austerities prescribed in Jain literature and he crossed, within a short space of time, the whole ocean of learning. His guru made him Acarya - the spiritual head of a group of monks and since then he was known as Hemachandracharya.
The king Siddharaj Jayasimha, the then king of Gujarat, was attracted by the qualities of Hemachandracharya. He first met Acharya whilst ceremoniously parading the streets of Patan (then capital of Gujarat). The king was seated on an elephant and the Acharya was coming from the opposite direction. On seeing the king, Acharya praised the king in a beautifully composed Sanskrit lyric. This spontaneous response from the Acharya and the eloquence of his poetry won the king's heart. The king invited Acharya to the palace the very next day and from that day onwards the bond between them was unbroken. Acharya's political wisdom, religious strength and immense knowledge gave him a special place in the king's court.
King Siddharaj had fought and won many battles. His greatest victory was the victory over Malva (a town in central India). Malva was won but everyone knew that Malva was superior to Gujarat because Malva had its own strong, unmatched literary tradition. Malva had the best Sanskrit grammar, whilst Gujarat had none. The king wanted Gujarat to be at the vanguard of literature, and it was Hemachandra who came to his rescue. Scholarly knowledge of grammar was essential for any writer or poet, which was a point of prestige in the kingdom.
The king requested that Hemachandra compose a grammar, which would lift Gujarat's prestige. He agreed to undertake this mammoth task. After gathering all the necessary information from various sources and three years of continuous research, Hemachandra composed the grammar of the Sanskrit and Prakrit languages. To explain and illustrate the complexity of grammar it was necessary to provide examples. Hemachandra solved this problem in his own unique style. He wrote a book on the history of Solanki kings. The book is written in such a manner that each of the verses explains the rules of grammar. This book of 250,000 verses is called Dwayashrya and it is written in two parts. The first part is in Sanskrit and it explains the rules of Sanskrit grammar, while the second part, which is in Prakrit, explains the rules of Prakrit grammar. Part two narrates the life of king Kumarapal who became king after the death of Siddharaj.
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