Hemachandra

Hemachandra
Drawing of Hemchandra based on Vikram Samvat 1294 palm leaf
Official name	Acharya Hemchandra Suri
Personal
Born	Changadev 1088 (see notes) Dhandhuka
Died	1173 (see notes) Anhilwad Patan
Parents	Chachinga, Pahini
Senior posting
Rank	Acharya
Religious career
Initiation	see notes Khambhat by Devchandrasuri

Acharya Hemachandra was a Jain scholar, poet, and polymath who wrote on grammar, philosophy, prosody, and contemporary history. Noted as a prodigy by his contemporaries, he gained the title kalikālasarvajña, "the all-knowing of the Kali Yuga".

Early life

Hemachandra was born in Dhandhuka, in the modern day, west Indian state of 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. His father, Chachinga was a Modh Bania Vaishnava. His mother, Pahini, was a Jain. Hemchandra's given name was Changadev. In his childhood, the Jain monk Devachandrasuri visited Dhandhuka and was impressed by the young Hemachandra's intellect. His mother and maternal uncle concurred with Devachandrasuri, in opposition to his father, that Hemachandra be a disciple of his. Devachandrasuri and Hemachandra travelled to Khambhat, where he 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. Udaya Mehta or Udayan, the governor of Khambhat, helped Devchandrasuri in the ceremony. He was trained in religious discourse, philosophy, logic and grammar and became well versed in Jain and non–Jain scriptures. At the age of 21, he was ordained an acharya of the Śvētāmbara school of Jainism at Nagaur in Rajasthan where he was named Acharya Hemachandra Suri.

Hemachandra and Siddharaj

At the time, Gujarat was ruled by the Solanki dynasty from Anhilwad Patan. It is not certain when Hemachandra visited Anhilwad Patan first time. As Jain monks are mendicants for eight months and stay at one place during Chaturmas, the four monsoon months, he started living at Anhilwad during these periods and produced majority of his works there.

Probably around 1125, he was introduced to the Siddharaj Jaisinh (fl. 1092–1141) and soon rose to prominence in the Solanki royal court. In 1135, when the Siddharaj conquered Malwa, he brought the works of Bhoja from Dhar along with other things. One day Siddhraj 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 Siddharaj to find the eight best work of grammars from Kashmir. He studied them and produced new grammar work in the style of Pāṇini's Aṣṭādhyāyī. He named the grammar work, Siddha-Hema-Śabdanuśāśana after himself and the king. Siddharaj was so pleased with the work that he ordered it to be placed on the back of an elephant and the procession was held on the streets of Anhilwad Patan. Hemachandra also composed the Dvyashraya Kavya, an epic on the history of the Solanki dynasty, to illustrate his grammar.

Hemachandra and Kumarpal

According to the Prabhachandra, there was an incident where Siddharaj wanted to kill his nephew Kumarpal because it was prophesied that the kingdom would meet its demise at Kumarpal's hands. Hemachandra hide Kumarpal under a pile of manuscripts to save him. However, such motifs are common in Indian folk literature so it is unlikely it was an actual historical event. Also, many sources differ on Siddharaj's motives.

Hemachandra became the advisor to Kumarpal (1143–1173). During Kumarpal's reign, Gujarat became a center of culture. Using the Jain approach of Anekantavada, Hemchandra is said to have displayed a broad-minded attitude, which pleased Kumarpal. Kumarpal was a Shaiva and ordered the rebuilding of Somnath at Patan. Some people who were jealous of Hemachandra's rising popularity with the Kumarpal complained that Hemachandra was a very arrogant person, that he did not respect the devas and that he refused to bow down to Shiva. When called upon to visit the temple on the inauguration with Kumarpal, Hemachandra readily bowed before the lingam but said:

I bow down to anyone who has has destroyed the passions like attachment and hatred which are the cause of the cycle of birth and death., whether he is Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva or Jina.

Ultimately, the king became a devoted follower of Hemachandra and a champion of Jainism.

Starting in 1121, Hemachandra was involved in the construction of the Jain temple at Taranga. His influence on Kumarpal resulted in the 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 after almost 900 years after Acharya Hemchandra, Gujarat still continues to be a predominantly lacto-vegetarian state, despite having an extensive coastline.

Death

He announced about his death six months in advance and fasted in his last days, a Jain practice called sallekhana. He died at Anhilwad Patan. The year of death differs according to sources but 1173 is generally accepted.

Works

A prodigious writer, Hemachandra wrote grammars of Sanskrit and Prakrit, poetry, prosody, lexicons, texts on science and logic and practically all branches of Indian philosophy. It is said that Hemchandra composed in total of 3.5 crore verses in total of which many are now lost.

Grammar

Siddha-Hema-Śabdanuśāśana

This Sanskrit grammar was written in the style of Pāṇini. It has seven chapters with each chapter having four sections, similar to that of the grammar of Bhoj. The Siddha-Hema-Śabdanuśāśana also includes six Prakrit languages: the "standard" Prakrit (virtually Maharashtri Prakrit), Shauraseni, Magahi, Paiśācī, the otherwise-unattested Cūlikāpaiśācī and Apabhraṃśa (virtually Gurjar Apabhraṃśa, prevelent in the area of Gujarat and Rajasthan at that time and the precursor of Gujarati language). He gave a detailed grammar of Apabhraṃśa and also illustrated it with the folk literature of the time for better understanding. It is the only known Apabhraṃśa grammar.

Poetry

Dvyashraya Kavya

To illustrate the grammar, he produced the epic poetry Dvyashraya Kavya on the history of Solanki dynasty. It is an important source of history of region of the time.

Trishashthi-Shalaka-Purusha

The epic poem Trīṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacaritra 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. The appendix to this work, the Pariśiṣṭaparvan or Sthavirāvalīcarita, contains his own commentary and is in itself a treatise of considerable depth It has been translated into English as The Lives of the Jain Elders.

Other

His Kavyanuprakasha follows the model of Kashmiri rhetorician Mammata's Kavya-prakasha. He quoted other scholars like Anandavardhana and Abhinavagupta in his works.

Lexicography

Abhidhan-Chintamani 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.

Mathematics

Hemachandra, following the earlier Gopala, presented an earlier version of the Fibonacci sequence. It was presented around 1150, about fifty years before Fibonacci (1202). He was considering the number of cadences of length n, and showed that these could be formed by adding a short syllable to a cadence of length n − 1, or a long syllable to one of n − 2. This recursion relation F(n) = F(n − 1) + F(n − 2) is what defines the Fibonacci sequence.

Other works

His other works are Chandanushasana (prosody), commentary in rhetoric work Alankara Chudamani, Abhidhana-chintamani, Yoga-Shastra (treatises on Yoga), Pramana-mimansa (logic), Vitaraga-Stotra (prayers).

See also

• Prabhavakacarita
• List of Indian mathematicians

Note

• As per Dundas, (1089–??)
• As per Datta and Jain World, (1088–1173)
• As per Gujarat Gazetteers, Volume 18, (1087–1174)
• As per Indian Merchants and Entrepreneurs, (1089–1173)

External links

• Acharya Hemchandra by Madhya Pradesh Hindi Granth Academy
• The Rhythm of Poetry
• The Golden Mean and the Physics of Aesthetics