________________
182
The Unknou
tradition, Haribhadra was a learned brāhmana of the town of Citrakūta, a priest at court. Through the influence of Yākini Mahattarā, he embraced the Jaina faith, becoming a monk and one of the luminaries of the samgha.
He wrote numerous treatises on different subjects in Prākrit and in Sanskrit and also some commentaries on the Agamas. A fervent and deeply spiritual ascetic, he deplored the laxity of certain of his confreres. 131
In a XIIIth century work which recounts the lives of eminent munis, the Prabhāvakacarita, composed by Acārya Prabhācandra, 132 in the chapter devoted to Haribhadra Sūri, there is a passage where the author makes the ācārya of Haribhadra commend Yākini Mahattarā in eloquent terms:
"The guru said: Well-versed in the Agamas, a crown of glory for both men and women ascetics, may this Mahattarā, my spiritual sister, famous under the name of Yakini, win the victory!"
And makes Haribhadra gratefully continue:
I, a priest, though highly proficient in the śāstras, was merely a fool, [but) through a most beneficent power, as if by the God of my ancestors, I was enlightened by my spiritual Mother.133
131 Cf. Samghamitra, 1979, pp. 238-249.
132 Hemacandra concluded his history of Mahāvira and the Ist ācāryas with Vajra Svåmin; Prabhácandra continued, proceeding from Vajra up to Hemacandra.
133 guruh avadat tayāgamapravină yami-yatinijanamaulisekhara śrih
mama gurubhagini mahattară iyaṁ jayati ca viśruta Jākiniti nämni. abhanat atha purohitah anaväham bhavabhavasástravisaradah api mürkhahati sukratvasena dharmamåtră nijakuladevatayā iva bodhitaḥ asmi. Prabhavakacarita IX, 41-42.
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