Page 22 - Jain Jyotirdhar Chitra Darshan

[22] HEMCHANDRACHARYA
(Propagator of Jainism)

(1) Born: 1145 Vikram Era (VE), Name: Chang Dev. Renounced
world in 1154VE. Monk name: Som Dev: Became Acharya
Hemchandra Suri 1166VE. (2) Amidst a congregation of
scholars, Hemchandra Suriji by mistake said, that it was a full
moon night instead of a no moon night. When he realized his
mistake, he went into meditation. In the evening the Shashan
Devi (A Lady Deity) miraculously showed the world a full moon
in the sky. (3) Devbodhi showed Kumarpal - the King of Patan -
his past 7 generations to make him a believer of Shiva. At that
time Hemchandracharya sat on 7 stools (seats) and had one
stool (seat) removed after another and still remained
suspended in the air and preached his sermons. (4) During the
monsoons, the king of Turkey attacked Kumarpal, who had
vowed not to leave Patan. Hemchandracharya with his spiritual
powers brought the King of Turkey along with his bed to
Kumarpal in Upashray (a building where Jain monks stay).
Kumarpal and Turkey King became friends. (5)
Hemchandracharya got many books like (SiddhHem Grammar
etc) written on palm leaves (in those days those were used for
writing scripts). (6) In 1229 VE, Hemchandra passed away. (7)
In lure of be coming the chief after the death of
Hemchandracharya, the traitor Monk Balchandra poisoned the
mind of Ajaypal that “Kumarpal will give the kingdom to
Pratapmal”. And advises him to poison Kumarpal. (8) King
Ajaypal orders Monk Ramchandra, to give leadership to
Balchandra, or he should get ready to lie on a bed of hot iron.
Monk Ramchandra followed the orders of his Guru and he
sacrificed his life but did not make Balchandra the chief and
reached heaven.