Pujyapada

Acharya Shri 108 Pujyapada Ji Maharaj

Pujyapada

Digambara Acharya
Religion Jainism
Sect Digambara
Personal
Born Devanandi
464 CE
Died

524 (aged 59–60)

Parents
  • Madhava Bhatta (father)
  • Shridevi (mother)
Religious career
Disciple(s) Durvinita
Works Sarvārthasiddhi, Iṣṭopadeśa

Acharya Pujyapada or Pūjyapāda (464 - 524 CE)[1] was a renowned grammarian and acharya (philosopher monk) belonging to the Digambara tradition of Jains. Since it was believed that he was worshiped by demigods on account of his vast scholarship and deep piety, he was named Pujyapada. He was said to be the guru of King Durvinita of the Western Ganga dynasty.[2]

Life

Pujyapada flourished in fifth or sixth century CE.[3] He is said to have lived from 510 CE to 600 CE.[4] Before initiation as a Digambara monk, he was known as Devanandin.[5] He was heavily influenced by the writings of his predecessors like Acharya Kundakunda and Acharya Samantabhadra. He is rated as being the greatest of the early masters of Jain literature.[6] He was prominent preceptor, with impeccable pontifical pedigree and spiritual lineage. He was a great yogi, sublime mystic, brilliant poet, noted scholar, eminent author and master of several branches of learning.[7] He wrote in Sanskrit, in prose as well as verse form.[8] He was pontiff of the Nandi sangha, which was a part of the lineage of Acharya Kundakunda. He was the tenth guru of the pontifical lineage of the Nandi Sangha. He was born in a Brahmin family of Karnataka.[4] His parents were Madhava Bhatta and Shridevi.[9]

It is likely that he was the first Jain saint to write not only on religion but also on secular subjects, such as ayurveda and Sanskrit grammar. Acharya Pujyapada, besides being a profound scholar of the Jainism and a mendicant walking in the footsteps of the Jinas, was a grammarian,[3] master of Sanskrit poetics and of ayurveda.

Works

Book cover of one of the English translation of Iṣṭopadeśa
Digambara Jain monks hold that one must master three texts in order to have a fruitful ascetic career:
i) Samādhitantra to cleanse the soul
ii) Jainendra Vyākaraṇa to cleanse one's language
iii) Kalyāṇakāraka to cleanse one's body and keep it free of disease and the debilitating effects of aging.

Notes

  1. ↑ Jain, Jyoti Prasad (2005), The Jaina Sources of the History of Ancient India (Second ed.), p. 102
  2. ↑ "Jaina Antiquary". Volume XVIII.1, pp 13-15.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Balcerowicz 2003, p. 29.
  4. 1 2 Natubhai Shah 2004, p. 49.
  5. 1 2 3 Upinder Singh 2008, p. 524.
  6. ↑ Page 98, Jain, Jyoti Prasad. The Jaina Sources of the History of Ancient India. Second, revised edition: 2005.
  7. ↑ Page 98, Ibid.
  8. ↑ Page 98, Ibid.
  9. ↑ Introduction. Jain, Jaykumar.Samadhitantra. First edition, 2006.
  10. 1 2 Jain 2014, p. xiv.

References

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