Page:Systems-of-Sanskrit-Grammar-SK Belvalkar.pdf/83

 [ - $ 58 Hemachandra: Iis Work After the death of Jayasimha (1143 A. D.) Kumāra- pala, his nephew, came to the throne. The first ten years of his reign he spent in victorious warfare on the northern frontiers of his kingdom. When he had nothing to fear from his enemies, he settled down to a peaceful and contemplative life. In this case there is no res- son to doubt that Hemachandra's exertions resulted in the king's conversion. A drama called Moharaja-para- jaya is based upon this fact. It is the oldest of our authorities for Hemachandra's times, being written by Yaśaḥpāla, minister to Ajayapāla, Kumarapala's successor. According to the drama Kumarapala's conversion took place in Samvat 1216, the second day of the bright half of the month of Märgasirsha. It is at the request of Kumarapala and in order to establish him in his new faith that Hemachandra wrote the Yogaśästra, just as, ere long, he had written the Sabdanusasana at the request of Siddharaja or Jayasimha. During the closing years of Kumarapala's reign he, in company with Hemchandra, made many pilgrimages to Jain sacred places in Western India. Hemachandra, who was now an octogenarian, soon felt his end drawing near, and he boldly set out to meet it by means of . He was 84 at the time of his death. Kumāra- pāla died only six months after him. With their death the glories of the Jain empire also came to an end, after a brief existence of unparalleled brilliancy. 38. Nature of Hemachandra's Šabdäqusasana.--Regarding Hemachandra's grammar (the full title of which is Argazmûvence¹) it consists, like Papini's work, of eight adhyayas of four pădas each, the total number of stras being about 4,500. Of these nearly a 1 A certain commentator explains the first part of the title thug 75 fara SANT PER