Life of Hemchandracharya

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

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LIFE OF HEMACANDRA When Kumārapāla learned of the king's intentions, he fled from Dethlí, and led for several years a wanderer's unsteady life, disguised as a Sivaite ascetic. first he seems to have continued staying in Gujarat. Later on, Jayasimha's persecutions, which increased in seriousness day by day, forced him to leave his motherland." The Prabandhas relate a number of romantic adventures which are supposed to have taken place at Kumārapūla's flight and during his erratic wandering in Gujarat and in foreign lands, they take great pains in representing Hemacandra as the protector of the persecuted prince and as the prophet of his future greatness. The Prabhāvakacaritra contains the following statements about Hemacandra's part in Kumārapāla's destiny. Jayasimha, so it is said, came to know through his spies that Kumārapāla was found to be amongst a crowd of three hundred ascetics who had come to Aņhilväd. In order to get hold of him, the king invited all of them to a feast. He himself washed the feet of each of them, apparently to show them his reverence, but really in order to find out who amongst them had the signs of royal dignity on the soles of his feet. As soon as he touched Kumāra pāla's feet, he found the lines forming a lotus, a flag and a sunshade. He made a signal to his servants with his eyes. Kumārapāla saw the signal and fled most quickly into the dwelling place of Hemacandra, the spies following him. Hemacandra covered him quickly with a heap of palm-leaves under which the officials, hastily passing by, forgot to search for him. When the immediate danger was over, Kumārapāla absconded from Anhilvād and reached, after many adventures in the company of another Sivaite Brahmin Bosari, the neighbourhood of Stambhatīrtha or Cambay. Having arrived there, he sent his companion into the city to Srimāli Vāņia Udayana-the game man who had befriended Hemacandra's father, according to the above-mentioned story-and asked him for help. Udayana hesitated to have dealings with an enemy of the king. Thereupon, Kumārapāla, feeling very hungry, went himself to the city by night and came to a Jaina-monastery where Hemacandra had taken up his residence during the rainy season. Hemacandra received him cordially, for heat once recognised him from his auspicious signs that this was the future king. He prophesied to him that he would ascend the throne in the seventeenth year and induced Udayana to give him food and money. Then Kumārapāla wandered further and passed here and there in foreign lands for seven years as a Kāpālika, in company of his wife, Bhopāladevi. In 1199 Jayasimha died. When Kumārapāla received this news, he returned to Anhilvād with a view to securing the throne for himself. On his arrival there, he met one Srimat-Sâmba (?), an otherwise unknown personality. Śrimat-Samba took him to Hemacandra in order to find out an auspicious sign, for he had still doubts as to his attaining the aim. On his entrance, Kumārapāla happened to sit down on the cushioned throne-seat of the monastery and supplied thereby, according to Hemacandra, the longed-for sign. The following day, the prince went with his brother-in-law Krşņadeva, a Samanta, who had command over 10,000 soldiers, into the palace and was elected the king.
2 M erutunga's account of Kumārapāla's flight and wanderings, agrees on the .whole with that of the Prabhāvakacaritra. As regards the divergences in details, it is to be noted that Hemacandra appears only once in Merutunya's story. Merutunga says nothing about Kumāräpäla's being hidden in Anhilvād under the palm-leaves by Hemacandra; nor does he mention the second prophecy immediately before the election