Somadeva Suri was a south Indian

Jain monk Jain monasticism refers to the order of monks and nuns in the Jain community and can be divided into two major denominations: the ''Digambara'' and the '' Śvētāmbara''. The monastic practices of the two major sects vary greatly, but the ...

of the 10th century CE ( fl. 959–66, possibly born in Bengal region about 920), author of a work known as "Upasakadyayana" "chapter on lay followers (''upasakas'')", a central work of

Digambara ''Digambara'' (; "sky-clad") is one of the two major schools of Jainism, the other being '' Śvētāmbara'' (white-clad). The Sanskrit word ''Digambara'' means "sky-clad", referring to their traditional monastic practice of neither possessing ...

''shravakacara'' literature, i.e. instructions and prescriptions for ''shravakas'' or Jain lay followers.

Lineage

Somadeva was a disciple of Acharya Nemideva of Devasangha section of

Mula Sangh ''Digambara'' (; "sky-clad") is one of the two major schools of Jainism, the other being '' Śvētāmbara'' (white-clad). The Sanskrit word ''Digambara'' means "sky-clad", referring to their traditional monastic practice of neither possessing ...

(associated with Akalankadeva). Somadeva composed Yashstilaka in the domain of Vagaraj, a feudatory of Rashtrakuta Krishna III. He is mentioned in copperplate and an inscription of the Chalukya clan. Vadiraja, author of Yashodhara-charita, and Pushpasena, (the teacher of Vadibhasimha, author of Gadyachintamani, were both disciples of Somadeva Suri.

Residence

Somadeva Suri was a member of the Gauda

Sangha Sangha is a Sanskrit word used in many Indian languages, including Pali meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community"; Sangha is often used as a surname across these languages. It was historically used in a political context t ...

. Before 957, he was at the court of the

Pratihara The Gurjara-Pratihara was a dynasty that ruled much of Northern India from the mid-8th to the 11th century. They ruled first at Ujjain and later at Kannauj. The Gurjara-Pratiharas were instrumental in containing Arab armies moving east of the ...

king

Mahendrapala II Mahendrapala II (944–948) ascended the throne of the Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty after his father Mahipala I. His mother was queen Prasadhana Devi. He reigned for short duration but the inscription found at Mandasor indicates that Gurjara Pra ...

, at

Kanyakubja Kannauj ( Hindustani pronunciation: ənːɔːd͡ʒ is a city, administrative headquarters and a municipal board or Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city's name is a corrupted form of the c ...

(modern Kannauj). There, he wrote ''Niti-vakya-amrita'', and possibly ''Trivarga-Mahedra-Matali-jalpa''. Later, he migrated the Vemulavada Chalukya kingdom. There, he composed ''Yashodhara-charita'' (or ''Yashas-tilaka-champu'', c. 959) during the reign of Baddega II, at Gangadhara town.

Works

"Upasakadyayana" is a section of the

champu Champu or Chapu-Kavya ( Devanagari: चम्पू-काव्य) is a genre of literary composition in Indian literature. The word 'Champu' means a combination of poetry and prose. A ''champu-kavya'' consists of a mixture of prose (Gadya ...

text ''

Yashastilaka ''Yashas-tilaka'' ( IAST: Yaśas-tilaka) is a 10th-century champu (prose and verse) Sanskrit text that promotes the Jaina doctrine using the story of king Yashodhara. It was written by the Jaina writer Somadeva, in the Vemulavada Chalukya kingdom ...

''.

Girish Karnad Girish Karnad (19 May 1938 – 10 June 2019) was an Indian actor, film director, Kannada writer, playwright and a Jnanpith awardee, who predominantly worked in South Indian cinema and Bollywood. His rise as a playwright in the 1960s marked the ...

's play ''Bali'' is based on ''Yashastilaka''. Somadeva Suri also wrote the ''Nitivakyamrtam'' "Nectar of the Science of Polity" (ed. Sundaralala Sastri 1976, Menta 1987), a treatise on statecraft. The text of the ''Nitivakyamrtam'' mentions that Somadeva was also the author of a literary work called ''Yashastilaka'' (see Kavyamala, 70). He is sometimes regarded as a "revolutionary thinker of early medieval India", in his works he discusses the vices (pratyuhasamuha) which brought to the country the conquest of the Muslims (Tajikas). It is notable that he describes the use of hydraulics for irrigating a garden.Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 2, Mechanical Engineering, Volume 4 of Physics & Physical Technology PT. 2, Joseph Needham, Cambridge University Press, 1965, p. 362

References

{{Authority control Indian Jain monks 10th-century Indian Jain writers 10th-century Jain monks 10th-century Indian monks 920s births