Hemachandra

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Hemachandra (c. 1088 – c. 1172/1173) was a 11-12th century Śvetāmbara Jaina ācārya, scholar, poet, mathematician, philosopher, yogi, grammarian, law theorist, historian, lexicographer, rhetorician, logician, and prosodist. Noted as a prodigy by his contemporaries, he gained the title kalikālasarvajña, "the knower of all knowledge in his times" and is also regarded as father of the Gujarati language. Born as Caṅgadeva, he was ordained in the Śvetāmbara school of Jainism in 1110 and took the name Somacandra. In 1125 he became an adviser to King Kumārapāla and wrote Arhannīti, a work on politics from Jaina perspective. He also produced Triśaṣṭi-śalākā-puruṣacarita (“Deeds of the 63 Illustrious Men”), a Sanskrit epic poem on the history of important figures of Jainism. Later when he was consecrated as ācārya, his name was changed to Hemacandra.

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