Bappabhattisuri

Vādikavi Ācārya Bappabhattisuri Mahārāja Sāheb was a Śvetāmbara Jain ascetic in the 8th century CE. He was an eminent poet, philosopher, reformer, researcher, and a child prodigy. Apart from his literary contributions, he is best known for his scriptural debates and the reforms he brought about in the iconography of Tirthankara idols sculpted and owned by the Śvetāmbara sect of Jainism.

Birth and early life He was born as Surapala to Bappa (father) and Bhatti (mother) belonging to an Oswal family in the year 743 CE in a small village known as Duva in the present-day Banaskantha district in Gujarat.

Initiation Acharya Siddhasenasuri was at a temple of Jivantasvami Neminatha near Duva when he saw a young Surapala visiting the temple. He recalled a dream he saw the previous night of a young lion springing upon a table at the exact place Surapala was standing at.

Ascetic life

Early ascetic life As a young ascetic, he learned scriptures and gained knowledge of reasoning and logic from his preceptor Siddhasenasuri, who is himself considered to have had been a highly qualified and learned monk. Bappabhatti is said to have mastered the 72 arts. Legend also says that his preceptor gave him a Saraswati mantra, by chanting which, he was blessed by demi-goddess Saraswati herself.

Consecration as an Ācārya He is one of the very few ascetics who attained the position of an Ācārya in the Chaturvidha Sangha of Jainism in just 4 years after initiation as a Jain monk. At 11 years of age, he was consecrated as an "acharya" and become one of the youngest ascetics to ever attain the title. He was then renamed as Bappabhattisuri.

Some other men in the king's court were jealous of him and tried turning the king against Bappabhattisuri. The king behaved differently and when Bappabhattisuri realized this, he decided to leave. He went towards West Bengal where King Dharmaraja ruled. The latter was a foe of King Āma, but acknowledged the wisdom of Bappabhattisuri, so he heartily welcomed him. When Āma repented for his ill behavior, he tried finding whereabouts of Bappabhattisuri. After finding that he was in Dharmaraja's kingdom, Āma went there to request him to come back. Bappabhattisuri complied and went back to Kannauj. Bappabhattisuri is then said to have had been the spiritual mentor to King Āma.

Śāstrārtha with Buddhist scholar Vardhana Kunjara Vardhana Kunjara, a popular Buddhist scholar and orator was living in King Dharmaraja's kingdom at that time. The latter thought of a way to take revenge on Āma by inviting Bappabhattisuri for a debate with Vardhana Kunjara. The condition of the debate was that the king of the defeated debater's kingdom would forfeit the kingdom to the king of the victorious' kingdom. The debate went on for six months, after which Vardhana Kunjara lost. Āma won Dharmaraja's kingdom. However, at Bappabhattisuri's request, the kingdom was given back to Dharmaraja, who then adopted Jainism. The sangha first went to Palitana temples and then began moving towards Girnar Jain temples. As they reached the foothills of Mount Girnar, they were prevented from climbing the hill by Digambaras. The latter believed that the Digambara sect was the true Jain sangha and that the Śvetāmbara sect had emerged later. A sangha of 11 Digambara kings with heavy artillery and cavalry were ready to engage into a battle to establish ownership over the shrine atop the mountain. King Āma was furious at this and called for a war between him and the 11 Digambara kings. However, before things heated up, Bappabhattisuri calmed them and called for peace between the two sects. The Digambara monks also had faith in Jain principles, so they agreed with him.

Debate with Digambaras Bappabhattisuri suggested to ask demi-goddess Ambika about the true ownership of the shrine atop the mountain. He further suggested that the debate take place in the following way each sect would send a girl to the opposing sect and the opposing sect would make her speak. Śvetāmbaras sent a young girl, but the Digambaras failed to make her speak after trying for 36 hours. Then, Digambaras sent a young girl to the opposing side. Just as Bappabhattisuri looked at her, and blessed her by raising his hand and showing his palm, demi-goddess Ambika spoke through her the following words and declared about the ownership of the pilgrimage site: -

Before this incident at Girnar, Śvetāmbaras worshipped clothed and naked idols of the Tirthankaras. However, after this incident, to avoid future issues over ownership of idols and temples, Bappabhattisuri called upon all the Śvetāmbara acharyas and they unanimously mandated that all idols sculpted by the Śvetāmbara sect since then, would be clothed with a waistband (kandora) and a piece of cloth (kachhota) just beneath the folded legs of a Tirthankara idol. With time, other additions such as human-like eyes, and bhaala-tilak were made to mark a clear distinction between newer Śvetāmbara idols and Digambara idols.

Death and legacy At the age of 95, he performed Santhara and died. Several medieval Śvetāmbara texts describe him and his ascetic life in detail. Some biographical texts are dedicated solely to him. Some of the texts that mention him are as follows: -

Bappabhattisuri Caritra - A 1235 CE non-canonical Śvetāmbara text written in Maharashtri Prakrit. Prabhavakacarita - A 1278 CE text written by Acharya Prabhācandrasuri. Aamprabandha Prabandha-Chintamani Puratan-Prabandha-Sangraha - A 1472 CE Śvetāmbara text which is a compilation of several older texts. Shatrunjaya-Kalpavritti - A 1462 CE text written by Shubhashila Gani. Upadesharatnakara - A 15th century CE text written by Acharya Munisundarsuri of Tapa Gaccha. Panchashati-Prabodha-Sambandha - A 1465 CE text written by Subhashila Gani. He was also awarded with several titles such as Vadikunjara Kesari, Bala-Brahmachari, Gajavara, Rajpujita, and Vadikavi.