Hemachandra: Difference between revisions

| birth_name = ChangadevChangadeva

| birth_date = c. {{Circa|1088}} (''see notes'')

| death_date = c. {{Circa|1173}} (''see notes'')

[[Acharya]] '''Hemachandra''' was ana 12th century ({{circa|1088&nbsp;|lk=on|1172/1173&nbsp;CE}}) Indian [[Jainism|Jain]] saint, scholar, poet, mathematician and, [[polymath]] who wrote on [[grammarphilosopher]], philosophy, [[Prosody (linguistics)|prosodyyogi]], mathematics and contemporary history. Noted as a prodigy by his contemporaries, he was a [[Philosopher|Philosopher,]][[Yogi]],[[wikt:grammarian|Grammariangrammarian]],<ref>{{Cite book|last=Datta|first=Amaresh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ObFCT5_taSgC&pg=PA15|title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: A-Devo|date=1987|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=978-81-260-1803-1|pages=15–16|language=en}}</ref>,[[Political philosophy|Political Philosopher]],[[Law|Lawlaw Theoristtheorist]],<ref name="Flügel 5">{{Cite journal|last=Flügel|first=Peter|title=A Short History of Jaina Law|url=https://www.academia.edu/58340051|journal=|pages=5}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Hemachandra {{!}} Jaina author {{!}} Britannica|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hemachandra|access-date=2022-02-07|website=www.britannica.com|language=en}}</ref> [[Poetry|,Poet,]][[Historianhistorian]],<ref>{{Cite book|last=Singh|first=Upinder|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pq2iCwAAQBAJ|title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century|date=2008|publisher=Pearson Education India|isbn=978-81-317-1677-9|pages=241|language=en}}</ref> [[LexicographersLexicography|Lexicographerlexicographer]], [[Rhetoric|Rhetoricianrhetoric]]ian, [[Logic|Logicianlogic]]ian, [[Mathematician]] and [[Prosody (linguistics)|Prosodistprosodist]] .<ref>{{Cite book|last=Datta|first=Amaresh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ObFCT5_taSgC&pg=PA15|title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: A-Devo|date=1987|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=978-81-260-1803-1|pages=15|language=en}}</ref>and Noted as a prodigy by his contemporaries, he gained the title ''kalikālasarvajña'', "the knower of all knowledge in his times" and ''father of the Gujarati language''.

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.<ref group=note>The dates of birth and death differs according to sources. He was initiated at age ofaged 21.</ref><ref name="Joshi2005">{{cite book|first=Dinkar|last=Joshi|title=Glimpses of Indian Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-fw-0iBvmMAC&pg=PA80|date=1 January 2005|publisher=Star Publications|isbn=978-81-7650-190-3|pages=79–80}}</ref> His father, Chachiga-deva was a [[Modh]] [[Bania (caste)|Bania]] [[Vaishnavism|Vaishnava]]. His mother, Pahini, was a [[Jainism|Jain]].<ref name="Dundas2002">{{cite book|first=Paul|last=Dundas|title=The Jains|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jt6-YXE2aUwC&pg=PA134|year=2002|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-26606-2|pages=134–135}}</ref><ref name="Dattavarious2006">{{cite book|first1=Amaresh|last1=Datta|author2=various|title=The Encyclopaedia Of Indian Literature (A To Devo)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ObFCT5_taSgC&pg=PA15|volume=1|date=1 January 2006|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=978-81-260-1803-1|pages=15–16}}</ref> Hemchandra's original given name was Changadeva. In his childhood, the [[Jain monasticism|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.{{sfn|Asoke Kumar Majumdar|1956|p=97}}

Probably around 1125, he was introduced to the [[Jayasimha Siddharaja]] ([[floruit|fl.]] 1092–1141) and soon rose to prominence in the Chaulukya royal court.<ref name="Dattavarious2006"/> 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.{{sfn|Asoke Kumar Majumdar|1956|p=83}}

In 1135, when the 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''.<ref name="Dundas2002"/><ref name="Dattavarious2006"/> 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.<ref name="Meghani2003">{{cite book|first=Jhaverchand|last=Meghani|author-link=Jhaverchand Meghani|title=A Noble Heritage: A Collection of Short Stories Based on the Folklore of Saurashtra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=scNjAAAAMAAJ|year=2003|publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan|page=xviii}}</ref> Hemachandra also composed the ''Dvyashraya Kavya'', an epic on the history of the [[Chaulukya dynasty]], to illustrate his grammar.<ref name="Dattavarious2006"/>

A prodigious writer, Hemachandra wrote [[grammar]]s of [[Sanskrit]] and [[Prakrit]], [[poetry]], [[Prosody (linguistics)|prosody]], [[lexicons]], texts on [[science]] and [[logic]] and many branches of [[Indian philosophy]]. It is said that Hemachandra composed 3.5 [[crore]] verses in total, many of which are now lost.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}

His systematic exposition of the Jain path in the [[Yogaśāstra]] and its auto-commentary is a very influential text in Jain thought. According to Olle Quarnström it is "the most comprehensive treatise on [[SvetambaraŚvetāmbara]] [[Jainism]] known to us".<ref>Olle Quarnström, The Yogasastra of Hemacandra : a twelfth century handbook of Svetambara Jainism, 2002, introduction</ref>

In 1125, he became an adviser to Kumarapala and wrote the ''Arhanniti'', a work on politics from a Jain perspective.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Hemachandra {{!}} Jaina author {{!}} Britannica|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hemachandra|access-date=2021-11-14|website=www.britannica.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|lastname="Flügel|first=Peter|title=A Short History of Jaina Law|url=https://www.academia.edu/58340051|journal=|pages=5}}<"/ref>

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.<ref name="Dattavarious2006"/> The [[epic poetry|epic poem]] ''Trīṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacharitra'' or "Lives of Sixty-Three Great Men" is a [[hagiography|hagiographical treatment]] of the twenty four [[tirthankara]]s and other important persons instrumental in defining the Jain philosophical position, collectively called the "[[Salakapurusa|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.<ref name="Dattavarious2006"/> The appendix to this work, the ''[[Parishishtaparvan|Pariśiṣṭaparvan]]'' or ''Sthavirāvalīcarita'',{{sfn|Upinder Singh|2016|p=26}} contains his own commentary and is in itself a treatise of considerable depth<ref name="Dattavarious2006"/> It has been translated into English as ''The Lives of the Jain Elders''.<ref name="HemacandraFynes1998">{{cite book|author1=Hemacandra|author2=R. C. C. Fynes|title=The Lives of the Jain Elders|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=quNpKVqABGMC|year=1998|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-283227-6}}</ref> In the test, Hemchandra accepts the polyandry of [[Draupadi]] and further suggests that Draupadi was Nagasri in one of hisher 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.{{sfn|Doniger|1993|p=241}} His ''Kavyanuprakasha'' follows the model of Kashmiri rhetorician Mammata's ''Kavya-prakasha''. He quoted other scholars like [[Anandavardhana]] and [[Abhinavagupta]] in his works.<ref name="Dattavarious2006"/>

''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.<ref name="Dattavarious2006"/>

* [http://faculty.washington.edu/kpotter/ckeyt/txt3.htm Bibliography of Hemachandra's works, Item 687] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211113104432/http://faculty.washington.edu/kpotter/ckeyt/txt3.htm |date=13 November 2021 }}, Karl Potter, University of Washington

[[Category:ŚvētāmbaraŚvetāmbara monks]]