Hemachandra
Hemachandra was a 12th century (c. 1088 – c. 1172/1173 CE) Indian Jain saint, scholar, poet, mathematician, philosopher, yogi, grammarian, law theorist, historian, lexicographer, rhetorician, logician, and prosodist. 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.
Acharya Hemachandra Suri | |
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Drawing of Hemchandra based on Vikram Samvat 1294 palm leaf | |
| Official name | Acharya Hemchandra Suri |
| Personal | |
| Born | Changadeva c. 1088 (see notes) |
| Died | c. 1173 (see notes) Anhilwad Patan |
| Religion | Jainism |
| Parent(s) | Chachinga, Pahini |
| Sect | 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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Born as Changadeva, he was ordained in the Śvētāmbara school of Jainism in 1110 and took the name Somachandra. In 1125 he became an adviser to King Kumarapala and wrote Arhanniti, a work on politics from a Jain perspective. He also produced Trishashti-shalaka-purusha-charita (“Deeds of the 63 Illustrious Men”), a Sanskrit epic poem on the history of important figures of Jainism. Later in his life, he changed his name to Hemachandra.