Temple of Satrunjaya

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

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him with kindness. Deva Suri a learned Jaina of Karnavati and the celebrated Hemacarya were chosen as the champions of the Svetambaras, and the disputation was arranged to take place in the royal presence and before the court. Kumuda Candra arrived in great state but injured his cause by the written statement read out before the court as follows:
"Kumuda Candra contends that the Kevali, who is possessed of holy knowledge and is on the way to attain kaivalya, or eternal emancipation, should not eat; that the man who wears clothes cannot attain liberation; that females cannot attain liberation. Deva Suri contends that the Kevali may eat; that the man who wears clothes, and also women, may attain liberation.” Of course, as one might naturally expect, Mainala Devi ceased to support the Digambara whom she declared "a man ignorant of human character".
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Towards the end of his reign, Merutunga relates that Siddha Raja committed the government of Sorath to Sajan, a military officer who devoted the royal revenue for three years to rebuilding the temple of Neminatha at Girnar; and, on being called to account, satisfied his sovereign, and was further entrusted with the charge of the tirthas of Satrunjaya and Ujjayanta or Girnar. It is also added that soon after, on his return from Somanatha, Siddha Raja visited both these holy places and, notwithstanding the dissent of his Brahmin councillors, he made a grant of twelve villages to the shrine of Rsabhanatha.
With the next sovereign Kumarapala (A.D. 1142-1173) the Jainas come more prominently into notice. Kumarapala was the son of Tribhuvana Pala, the son of Deva Prasada, and great grandson of Ksema Raja. He had become obnoxious to Siddha Raja and fled from Anahilawada, but afterwards returned and entered a Jaina convent as an ascetic. Here he was discovered, and again fled to Stambha Tirtha or Khambat (Cambay), where he is said to have been entertained and instructed by Udayana Mehta and the famous Jaina Monk Hemacarya. On ascending the throne Vagbhat Deva the son of Udayana was made his principal minister. Kumara, like the other Solanki sovereigns, was much engaged in war, and carried his arms far into Malava on the north and to Kolhapur in the south. Still the Jainas never lost the hold they had gained over him during his exile. Udayana Mantri found an opportunity for reintroducing the astute and ambitious Hemacarya to the king. “One's own royalty", reflected the monk, “or the subjection of the king to ones self,—these are the only roads towards effecting an object"; and so successfully did he pursue the latter, that the Brahmanas about the king soon saw that he or they must lose the royal favour. They accordingly raised complaints against him, among others charging
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