Chapter 2.1 - Life, Date and Works of Ācārya Haribhadrasūri (Introduction)

The puṣpikā of Śiṣyahitā,^[1] Haribhadrasūri’s śīkā on Āvaśyakasūtra, informs us that Haribhadrasūri [Haribhadra Suri] certainly was a Śvetāmbara ācārya. He belonged to the vidhyādhara kula which was headed by a great Ācāya Jinabhaṭa at that time. Haribhadrasūri was initiated into monkhood by Ācārya Jinadatta. Haribhadrasūri identified himself as a spiritual son of the nun Yākinī. This is all Haribhadrasūri informs us about his own life.

Haribhadrasūri’s mentioning of the words Jinabhaśanigadānusāriṇo in the puṣpikā of Śiṣyahitā, a śīkā on Āvaṣyakasūtra, has been interpreted differently by Anandasagarasūri.^[2] He says that the word nigada contained in the puṣpikā does not mean obedience (ajñāvartitva). According to Anandasagarasūri the words Jinabhaśanigadānusāriṇo are used by Haribhadrasūri to show his indebtedness to Ācārya Jinabhaṭa whose commentary on Āvaṣyakasūtra Haribhadrasūri has utilized while composing the commentary Śiṣyahitā on Āvaṣyakasūtra. To support this statement Anandasagarasūri says that the previously mentioned phrase is not found in the colophons of Haribhadrasūri’s commentaries on Daśavaikālika and many others ^[3] . However Haribhadrasūri in the colophon of Pradeśavyākhyā, a commentary to Paṇṇavaṇā,^[4] has referred himself as a pupil of Ācārya Jinabhaṭa.^[5]

The following is what Hargovind Das T Sheth thinks regarding Haribhadrasuri’s being a pupil of either Ācārya Jinabhṭa or Ācārya Jinadatta:

“yadyapi prabhāvakacaritrādau haribhadrasya dīkṣā-śāstrapāṭha-sūripadādyadhikāre gurūrūpeṇa jinabhaṭasūrivyatiriktasyā -nyasyakasyāpyācāryasya nāma nopalabhyate, tathāpyāvaśyakaniryukti - prāntasthenollekhena..., yaḥ’ alpamateḥ’ iti viśeṣaṇānyathānupapattyā haribhadrasūrikatarkṛ eva nirṇīyate, paṭṭaguravo jinadattasūrayaḥ,“jinabhaṭanigadānusāriṇaḥ ” ityanena tatratyenaiva viśeṣaṇena jinabhaṭasūrayastvājñāguravo vidyāguravo vetidhyeyam || ”^[6]

From these we may say that some commentaries composed by Haribhadrasūri inform us about Ācārya Jinabhaṭa well as Ācārya Jinadatta.Whereas some commentaries written by Haribhadrasūri mention only Ācārya Jinabhaṭa as the preceptor of Haribhadrasūri.

Like most ancient Indian literary luminaries the profound Jain scholar Haribhadrasūri was also very sparing in providing information regarding his own life, learning and works. He was undoubtedly a versatile writer, commentator, preacher, disputant and a selfless Śvetāmbara Jain monk. His erudition drew attention of many scholars of later period who derived direct or indirect inspiration from him. Therefore they held him in high regard. It is mainly from their works we get information about the life of Haribhadrasūri. When the scattered references available in various source texts are organized, we get the following information regarding the life of Haribhadrasūri.

The following is the list of texts that provide us traditional as well as legendary accounts about life of Haribhadrasūri.

The texts are:

1. 9thprabandha of Prabhācandra’s Prabhāvakacarita. (V. S. 1334 = 1278A.D.) The name of the author is wrongly given as Candraprabha on the Nirnaya Sagar Edition, 1909.

2. Rājaśekharasūri’s Prabandhakoṣa (V.S. 1405 = 1349 A.D.) It is also known as Caturviṃśatiprabandha.

3. Municandrasūri’s Upadeśapadaśīkā. (V.S. 1174 = 1118 A.D.)

4. Bhadraśvara’s Kahāvalī. It is an unpublished text. Though the exact year is not found yet, Muni Jinavijaya thinks that it belongs to the 12th era of Vikrama.

5. Sumatigaṇi’s Gaṇadharasārddhaśatakabṛhatśīkā. (V. S. 1295 = 1239 A.D.)

6. Eight gāthās (52-59) of Jinadatta’s Gaṇadharasārddhaśataka. (V. S. 1169-

7. 1211 = 1112-1154 A.D.)

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

“samāptā ceyaṃ śiṣyahitā nāma āvaśyakaṭīkā| kṛ tiḥ sitambarācāryajinabhaṭanigadānusāriṇo vidyādharaku la-tilacakācāryajinadattaśiṣyasya dharmato jāiṇī mahattarāsūnoralpamaterācāryaharibhadrasya |”

[2]:

See p. 4 of Ānandasāgarasūri’s Sanskrit preface to Koṭyācārya’s commentary on Visesāvassayabhāsa.

[3]:

(a) “mahattarāyā yākinyā dharmaputreṇa cintitā|
ācāryaharibhadreṇa ṭīke yaṃ śiṣyabodhinī || 1 || ”
   –The Commentary on Daśavaikālikaniryukti.

(b) “jāiṇimayahariyāe raitā ete 3 dhammaputteṇa haribhadrācarihaṇa|”
   –The Commentary of Upadeśapada.

(c) “vivṛttaṃ ca yākinīmahattarāsūnuśrīharibhadrācāryaiḥ|”
   –The Commentary on Pañcasūtra.

[4]:

See XVII, Part. 1, p. 204, Descriptive Catalogue of Jain Manuscripts by H.R.Kapadia.

[5]:

“It is true that in Haribhadra’s commentary to Paṇṇavaṇā it is stated by him that he is a pupil of Jinabhaṭa. But this should not be construed to mean that Jinabhaṭa was his dīkṣā-guru. For, in the colophon (V. 3) of Samarāiccahahā, it is clearly mentioned by our author that he is a part (avayava) of Jinadatta Ācārya.”

— Extracted from footnote–2, Anekāntajaypatākā edited by H.R.Kapadia, Vol.-I, Introduction, P. XXI.

[6]:

See second footnote on page: 6 of Haribhadrasuri Charitra by Hargovind Das T. Sheth.