Udaya-prabha Sūri (fl. 1221-43) was a

Śvetāmbara The Śvetāmbara (; also spelled Shwetambara, Shvetambara, Svetambara or Swetambara) is one of the two main branches of Jainism, the other being the Digambara. ''Śvetāmbara'' in Sanskrit means "white-clad", and refers to its ascetics' practi ...

Jain monk and writer from the Vaghela kingdom of present-day India. He was a member of the literary circle of the minister

Vastupala Vastupāla (died 1240 CE) was a prime minister of the Vaghela dynasty, Vāghelā king Vīradhavala and his successor Vīsaladeva, who ruled in what is now the Gujarat region of India, in the early 13th century. Although he served in an administra ...

, and wrote several

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

-language works.

Biography

Udaya-prabha was a member of the Nagendra-

gaccha Gaccha, alternatively spelled as Gachchha, is a monastic order, along with lay followers, of the idol worshipping Murtipujaka Śvetāmbara sect of Jainism. Etymology ''Gaccha'' literally means "who travel together". History According to Jain ...

, and a pupil of Vijaya-sena (died 1245). His lineage of teachers is as follows: Vijaya-sena, Hari-bhadra, Ananda and Amara-chandra (contemporaries of

Jayasimha Siddharaja Jayasiṃha, who assumed the title Siddharāja, ruled the Kingdom of Gujarat between 1092 and 1142. He was a member of the Chaulukya (also called Solanki) dynasty. Jayasimha's capital was located at Anahilapataka (modern Patan) in present-day ...

), Shanti-suri, and Mahendra-prabhu. He was a member of the literary circle of

, a minister in the Vaghela kingdom of present-day

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

and southern

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

. Vastupala invited distant scholars to teach Udaya-prabha various ''

shastras ''Śāstra'' ( ) is a Sanskrit word that means "precept, rules, manual, compendium, book or treatise" in a general sense.Monier Williams, Monier Williams' Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Article on 'zAstra'' The word is ge ...

'', which suggests that Udaya-prabha was younger than Vastupala. The minister also organized an expensive function to appoint Udaya-prabha as an ''

acharya In Indian religions and society, an ''acharya'' (Sanskrit: आचार्य, IAST: ; Pali: ''ācariya'') is a religious teacher in Hinduism and Buddhism and a spiritual guide to Hindus and Buddhists. The designation has different meanings i ...

''. Jina-bhadra, a disciple of Udaya-prabha, wrote or compiled several

prabandha Prabandha is a literary genre of medieval Indian Sanskrit literature. The ''prabandha''s contain semi-historical anecdotes about the lives of famous persons. They were written primarily by Jain scholars of western India (Gujarat and Malwa) from 1 ...

stories that are part of the ''Prabandhavali'' and ''

Puratana Prabandha Sangraha The ''Puratana Prabandha Sangraha'' ("Collection of Old Prabandhas") is a collection of Sanskrit-language legendary biographies and anecdotes written by multiple Jain authors of India. It was edited by the Jain monk Jinvijay from several manuscri ...

''. Mallisena, another disciple of Udaya-prabha ''Syadvada-manjari'', a work on Jain philosophy in 1292 CE.

Works

Udayaprabha wrote several poems,

prashasti ''Prashasti'' (IAST: Praśasti, Sanskrit for "praise") is an Indian genre of inscriptions composed by poets in praise of their rulers. Most date from the 6th century CE onwards. Written in the form of poetry or ornate prose, the ''prashastis'' s ...

s, and commentaries, dated between 1221 and 1243. His works include: * ''Sukrita Kirti Kallolini'' (

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Brahmic family, Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that ...

: ''Sukṛta-kīrti-kallolinī'', "River of the Glory of Good Deeds"), a panegyric glorifying the deeds of Vastupala and Tejapala. It was composed in 1221 on the occasion of Vastupala's ''Samgha-yatra' pilgrimage, and inscribed on a slab at

Shatrunjaya Shatrunjaya, also spelled Shetrunjaya ("place of victory against inner enemies") and originally known as Pundarikgiri, is a range of hills located near the city of Palitana in the Bhavnagar district of Gujarat, India. The hills are situated on ...

. * ''Vastupala-stuti'' ("Praise of Vastupala"), another panegyric glorifying Vastupala. * ''Dharmabhyudaya'' (or ''Purana Sangha-pati-charita''), a work on Vijaya-sena's teaching of Jainism, written for Vastupala. It includes a number of Jain legends and an account of the history of

. The work is undated, but it was definitely composed before 1234, the year of a manuscript copied by Vastupala himself. It was probably composed in 1221 on the occasion of Vastupala's pilgrimage. * ''Arambha-siddhi'' or ''Pancha-vimarsha'', a work on astrology in 412 verses and 5 chapters. This text is known from over 70 manuscripts. There are several commentaries on this text, including some anonymous works, an ''avachurni'' by Samaya-ratna Gani, and a ''varttika'' by Hema-hamsa Gani (fl. 1458). * ''Upadesha-mala-karnika'' (IAST: ''Upadeśa-māla-karṇikā''), a commentary on Dharmadasa Gani's ''Upadesha-mala''. The author composed in 1243 at Dhavalakka (modern

Dholka Dholka is a city and municipality in the Ahmedabad District of the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the headquarters of Dholka Taluka, and is 48 km by road via National Highway 8A southwest of the city of Ahmedabad. Dholka has an average ...

), at the suggestion of his teacher Vijaya-sena. * A partially lost work, probably titled ''Shabda-brahmollasa'', known from 47 surviving verses preserved on the fragments of a palm-leaf manuscript. The subject matter of the work is not clear from the surviving portion, although the title suggests that it was a treatise on the philosophy of grammar. * Verses in a

Girnar Girnar is an ancient hill in Junagadh, Gujarat, India. It is one of the holiest pilgrimages of Jains, where the 22nd Tirthankara, Tirthaṅkar, Lord Neminath attained omniscience, and later nirvana at its highest peak (''Neminath Shikhar''), ...

'' inscription of Vastupala. * A 1225 CE 19-verse ''prashasti'' of a religious cottage (''pausadha-shala'') built by Vastupala at Stambha-tirtha. Udayaprabha-Suri should not be confused with the 12th-century monk Udayaprabha, who was a pupil of Ravi-prabha-suri, and who wrote commentaries on Nemichandra's ''Pravachana-saroddhara'' and three ''Karma-granthas''.

Biography

Works

References

Bibliography

Further reading