Hemachandra
Acharya Hemachandra Suri | |
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Śvētāmbara | |
Notable work(s) | Siddha-Hema-Śabdanuśāśana, Yogasastra |
Religious career | |
Initiation | Somchandra Khambhat by Devchandrasuri |
Post | Acharya (Jainism) |
Part of a series on |
Jainism |
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Hemachandra was a 12th century (
Born as Changadeva, he was ordained in the
Early life
Hemachandra was born in Dhandhuka, in present-day Gujarat, on Kartika Sud Purnima (the full moon day of Kartika month). His date of birth differs according to sources but 1088 is generally accepted.[note 1][6] His father, Chachiga-deva was a Modh Bania Vaishnava. His mother, Pahini, was a Jain.[7][8] Hemchandra's original given name was Changadeva. In his childhood, the Jain monk Devachandra Suri visited Dhandhuka and was impressed by the young Hemachandra's intellect. His mother and maternal uncle concurred with Devachandra, in opposition to his father, that Hemachandra be a disciple of his. Devachandra took Hemachandra to Khambhat, where Hemachandra was placed under the care of the local governor Udayana. Chachiga came to Udayana's place to take his son back, but was so overwhelmed by the kind treatment he received, that he decided to willingly leave his son with Devachandra.[9]
Some years later, Hemachandra was initiated a Jain monk on Magha Sud Chauth (4th day of the bright half of Magha month) and was given a new name, Somchandra. Udayana helped Devchandra Suri in the ceremony.
Hemachandra and Siddharaja
At the time, Gujarat was ruled by the
Probably around 1125, he was introduced to Jayasimha Siddharaja (fl. 1092–1141) and soon rose to prominence in the Chaulukya royal court.[8] According to the Prabhavakacarita of Prabhācandra, the earliest biography of Hemachandra, Jayasimha spotted Hemachandra while passing through the streets of his capital. The king was impressed with an impromptu verse uttered by the young monk.[12]
In 1135, when Siddharaja conquered Malwa, he brought the works of Bhoja from Dhar along with other things. One day Siddhraja came across the manuscript of Sarasvati-Kanthabharana (also known as the Lakshana Prakash), a treatise on Sanskrit grammar. He was so impressed by it that he told the scholars in his court to produce a grammar that was as easy and lucid. Hemachandra requested Siddharaja to find the eight best grammatical treatises from Kashmir. He studied them and produced a new grammar work in the style of Pāṇini's Aṣṭādhyāyī.[7][8] He named his work Siddha-Hema-Śabdanuśāśana after himself and the king. Siddharaja was so pleased with the work that he ordered it to be placed on the back of an elephant and paraded through the streets of Anhilwad Patan.[13] Hemachandra also composed the Dvyashraya Kavya, an epic on the history of the Chaulukya dynasty, to illustrate his grammar.[8]
Hemachandra and Kumarapala
According to the Prabhachandra, there was an incident where Siddharaja wanted to kill his nephew Kumarapala because it was prophesied that the kingdom would meet its demise at Kumarapala's hands. Hemachandra hid Kumarapala under a pile of manuscripts to save him.[7] However, such motifs are common in Indian folk literature, so it is unlikely it was an actual historical event. Also, many sources differ on Siddharaja's motives.[7]
Hemachandra became the advisor to Kumarapala. Bhava Bijankaura-janana Ragadyam Kshayamupagata Yasya, Brahma va Vishnu va Haro Jino va Namastasmai. Ultimately, the king became a devoted follower of Hemachandra and a champion of Jainism.[7][10]
I bow down to him who has destroyed the passions like attachment and malice which are the cause of the cycle of birth and death; whether he is Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva or Jina.[10][14]
Starting in 1121, Hemachandra was involved in the construction of the Jain temple at Taranga. His influence on Kumarapala resulted in Jainism becoming the official religion of Gujarat and animal slaughter was banned in the state. The tradition of animal sacrifice in the name of religion was completely uprooted in Gujarat. As a result, even almost 900 years after Hemchandra, Gujarat still continues to be a predominantly lacto-vegetarian state, despite having an extensive coastline.[7][8]
Death
He announced about his death six months in advance and fasted in his last days, a Jain practice called sallekhana. He died at Anhilavad Patan. The year of death differs according to sources but 1173 is generally accepted.[6]
Works
A prodigious writer, Hemachandra wrote
.Jain philosophy
His systematic exposition of the Jain path in the
Grammar
The Siddha-Hema-Śabdanuśāśana includes six languages:
Politics
In 1125, he became an adviser to Kumarapala and wrote the Arhanniti, a work on politics from a Jain perspective.[17][2]
Poetry
To illustrate the grammar, he produced the epic poetry Dvyashraya Kavya on the history of Chaulukya dynasty. It is an important source of history of region of the time.[8] The epic poem Trīṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacharitra or "Lives of Sixty-Three Great Men" is a hagiographical treatment of the twenty four tirthankaras and other important persons instrumental in defining the Jain philosophical position, collectively called the "śalākāpuruṣa", their asceticism and eventual liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth, as well as the legendary spread of the Jain influence. It still serves as the standard synthesis of source material for the early history of Jainism.[8] The appendix to this work, the Pariśiṣṭaparvan or Sthavirāvalīcarita,[18] contains his own commentary and is in itself a treatise of considerable depth[8] It has been translated into English as The Lives of the Jain Elders.[19] In the test, Hemchandra accepts the polyandry of Draupadi and further suggests that Draupadi was Nagasri in one of her previous lives and had poisoned a Jain monk. Therefore, she had to suffer in hell and animal incarnations for several lives before being born as woman who later became a Jain nun. After her death, she was reborn as Draupadi and was married to five pandavas.[20] His Kavyanuprakasha follows the model of Kashmiri rhetorician Mammata's Kavya-prakasha. He quoted other scholars like Anandavardhana and Abhinavagupta in his works.[8]
Lexicography
Abhidhan-Chintamani (IAST abhidhāna-cintāmaṇi-kośa) is a lexicon while Anekarth Kosha is a lexicon of words bearing multiple meanings. Deshi-Shabda-Sangraho or Desi-nama-mala is the lexicon of local or non-Sanskrit origin. Niganthu Sesa is a botanical lexicon.[8]
Prosody
He composed the Chandonushasana, a work on prosody, with commentary.
Mathematics
Hemachandra, following the earlier Gopala, described the
He (c. 1150 CE) studied the rhythms of Sanskrit poetry. Syllables in Sanskrit are either long or short. Long syllables have twice the length of short syllables. The question he asked is How many rhythm patterns with a given total length can be formed from short and long syllables? For example, how many patterns have the length of five short syllables (i.e. five "beats")? There are eight: SSSSS, SSSL, SSLS, SLSS, LSSS, SLL, LSL, LLS. As rhythm patterns, these are xxxxx, xxxx., xxx.x, xx.xx, x.xxx, xx.x., x.xx., x.x.x [23]
Other works
His other works are a commentary in rhetoric work Alankara Chudamani, Abhidhana-chintamani,[7][24] Pramana-mimansa (logic), Vitaraga-Stotra (prayers).[8]
See also
Notes
- ^ The dates of birth and death differs according to sources. He was initiated aged 21.
- As per Dundas, (1089–??)[7]
- As per Datta and Jain World, (1088–1173)[8][10]
- As per Gujarat Gazetteers, Volume 18, (1087–1174)[25]
- As per Indian Merchants and Entrepreneurs, (1089–1173)[26]
References
Citations
- ISBN 978-81-260-1803-1.
- ^ a b Flügel, Peter. "A Short History of Jaina Law": 5.
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: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ^ "Hemachandra | Jaina author | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
- ISBN 978-81-317-1677-9.
- ISBN 978-81-260-1803-1.
- ^ ISBN 978-81-7650-190-3.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-415-26606-2.
- ^ ISBN 978-81-260-1803-1.
- ^ Asoke Kumar Majumdar 1956, p. 97.
- ^ a b c d e "Hemacandra". Jain World. Archived from the original on 29 April 2008. Retrieved 6 May 2008.
- ^ Pandit, Shankar Pandurang, ed. (1936). The Kumarapalacarita (Prakrta Dvyasraya Kavya) of Hemachandra with commentary of Purnakalashagani. Bombay Sanskrit and Prakrit Series Book LX. P. L. Vaidya (revision) (2 ed.). Poona: The Bhandarkar Oriental Institute. pp. xxiii–xxv.
- ^ Asoke Kumar Majumdar 1956, p. 83.
- ^ Meghani, Jhaverchand (2003). A Noble Heritage: A Collection of Short Stories Based on the Folklore of Saurashtra. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. p. xviii.
- ISBN 978-81-8220-113-2.
- ^ Olle Quarnström, The Yogasastra of Hemacandra : a twelfth century handbook of Svetambara Jainism, 2002, introduction
- ^ 'Prastaavna', Haim Sanskrit Praveshika by Pandit Shivlal Nemchand Shah, Bhadrankar Prakashan.
- ^ "Hemachandra | Jaina author | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
- ^ Upinder Singh 2016, p. 26.
- ISBN 978-0-19-283227-6.
- ^ Doniger 1993, p. 241.
- ISBN 9780471399698.
... before Fibonacci proposed the problem; they were given by Virahanka (between 600 and 800 AD), Gopala (prior to 1 135 AD), ...
- ISBN 978-0-470-13794-9.
This sequence was first described by the Indian mathematicians Gopala and Hemachandra in 1150, who were investigating the possible ways of exactly packing items of length 1 and 2 into containers. In the West it was first studied by ...
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ISBN 978-0674009349
- ^ Gujarat (India) (1984). Gazetteers. Directorate of Government Print., Stationery and Publications. p. 183.
- ISBN 978-81-7188-017-1.
Sources
- ISBN 0-7914-1381-0
- Asoke Kumar Majumdar (1956). Chaulukyas of Gujarat. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. OCLC 4413150.
- ISBN 978-93-325-6996-6
- Cinnaiya, S., Nayara, H. K., & Mathura, R. (2017). Cakita kare Fibonācī. Bengaluru: Pratham Books.
External links
- Trishashti Shalaka Purusha Caritra of Hemchandra English translation of books 1-10
- Bibliography of Hemachandra's works, Item 687 Archived 13 November 2021 at the Wayback Machine, Karl Potter, University of Washington
- Acharya Hemchandra by Madhya Pradesh Hindi Granth Academy
- The Rhythm of Poetry
- The Golden Mean and the Physics of Aesthetics