Life of Hemchandracharya

Author(s): Manilal Patel
Publisher: Singhi Jain Shastra Shiksha Pith Mumbai

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THE LIFE OF HEMACANDRA
CHAPTER I
The Sources
ALTHOUGH European Orientalists have, during the last 50 years, paid
very close attention to the works of Hemacandra, there still remains the want of a thorough research in the life of this remarkable man who, through his extensive literary activity, made the name of the Svetambaras universally known in the learned circles of India, and who, because of his influence over a mighty monarch of Gujarat during the second half of the 12th century, gained a predominant place for the Jaina doctrine for the time being in his own native land. Apart from the inadequate, and partly inaccurate, data in H. H. Wilson's works and in the prefaces to the editions of some of Hemacandra's works, the only detailed account of the life of this famous monk is found in K. Forbes' Rās Mālā, (second edition, Bombay, 1878) pp. 145-157. A short article by Bhau Daji in the Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. IX, p. 222f., is intended to supplement this account. Forbes' narrative is essentially a reproduction of the informations found in Merutungācārya's Prabandhacintamani. The anecdotes contained in this last-named work are put in a better chronological order, while the most striking improbabilities are set aside. At the end, some legends are appended which are taken from the oral tradition. This treatment of the material corresponds to the character of Forbes' work which makes no claim to give a critical adaptation of the history of Gujarat, but has as its title "A Garland of Historical Legends".