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On the basis of the deduced year of the composition of the Sabdanuśāsana we may say that he was born in c. 1188 V. S., that he became a sanyāsin in c. 1200 V. S., that he lived a life of a sanyasin for about seven years, that having given up sanyāsa he, for five years, wandered in search of a spiritual teacher, and after that he became a Jaina monk.
We do not know as to what inspired him to become a Jaina monk. He has not mentioned even the name of his spiritual teacher (guru ). He has not indicated even the name of his gaccha. About his gaccha no positive information is available. The Kumārapālaprabandha suggests that his gaccha was different from that of Hemacandra. 8 This means that he did not belong to Pūrņatala gaccha. Malayagiri's refutation of Jinavallabha's view points to the fact that he did not belong to Kharataragaccha.' Thus we do not know positively as to which gaccha he belonged to.
A study of the words that Malayagiri has borrowed from the local dialect and has used in his vyttis (of course after having sanskritized them ) would help us in determining his mother tongue, his birth-place and the region of his tour. Compare the following words sanskritized by Malayagiri with the Gujarati words wbich are given in the brackets. khanda (khāmda ), utkāla (ukāļo – ubharo ), rellaņa (relo ), niścotyamāna (nicovatum), lotta (loța ), ucchinnam (uchinum ), adrahaņa (amdhaņa ), chațna (chadavum ), rāddhā (rāodhyā), utsūra (asūra), bhāțaka (bhādum), rūtapūnikā (rūni pūņi ), lāhanakam (lāņu ), chiņdikā (chiņdi), varttaya (vāta, verb to crush ), pottika (potaļi), mutkalitāḥ (mokalya ), acokkhaliņi (acok hali ), dalayanti ( daļati ), ākāritaḥ (hākaryo ), nibhālayāmāsa ( nihāļyum ), lumbi (lūma), cappuţikā (capați ), vatālitaḥ (vatalāyo ), lapanaśri ( lāpasi ), davaraka (doradum), etc. Words like these are found in numbers; only some of them are given here. Glancing at this list of words we can say that there are here some words at least which are used in Saurāştra only. So, we may conclude that his mother tongue was Saurāştri and his birth-place was in Saurastra,
He seems to have visited and stayed at Nisvapadraka 10. It is quite possible that in the days of Ac. Malayagiri there existed a village named Nisāpādara in Saurāṣtra as we have to-day in Saurāștra a village named Visāvadara. Of course, so far as my knowledge goes, to-day there is no village bearing the name Nisāpādara. May I suggest its identification with the present village Nesadi’ near Kuņdalā in Bhảvanagara 8. ekada ... anyagacchiya Devendrasuri-Malayagiribhyām saha ... prasthitāḥ (Hema
candrah), p. 13. 9. Prajñāpanāvrtti, P. 470. 10. Krdantaprakaraņa, 3.25.
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