Devardhigani Kshamashraman

Initiation

According to a legend, in his youth, he was interested in hunting. He had a life-threatening encounter with a lion which led to a spiritual awakening. Terrified and helpless, he vowed to devote himself to spiritual pursuits if saved. Following this incident, he sought guidance from Acharya Lohityasuri and embraced monkhood in the Śvetāmbara sect of Jainism.

Contributions

His most notable contributions revolve around the preservation and compilation of Jain scriptures, especially at the second council of Vallabhi held in 453 AD.

During a period of crisis caused by a 12-year long famine and gradual loss of knowledge among ascetics, he led efforts to preserve scriptural knowledge and systematically compile texts. Under his leadership, the Jain community united to safeguard the integrity of their scriptures, preventing division and ensuring the continuity of Jain teachings.

At the beginning of the Vallabhi Council, Devardhigani sat with shramans (Jain monks) and listened to the canonical texts and memorized them all and scripted them systematically and in an organized fashion. As a result of the first council of Vallabhi and the Mathura council, there were two different set of texts, "Skandili" and "Nagarjuniya". Acharya Kalak-IV was representing the "Nagarjuniya text", whereas Devardhigani was representing the "Skandili text". Both these sets of canonical texts had variations because Acharya Skandilsuri (author of Skandili text) and Acharya Nagarjunsuri (author of Nagarjuniya text) had never met before or during the compilation and writing. Both the texts were written simultaneously as the first council of Vallabhi and the Mathura council were held simultaneously during the same period. Variations in the two texts had almost led to an imminent division of the Jain sangha itself. Devardhigani was noble enough to note the variations between both the texts. Acharya Kalak also co-operated with him. The urgency about the loss of canonical texts was recognized by him and a simultaneous writing of canonical texts was successfully accomplished under his leadership.

However, the texts compiled under his guidance were completely rejected by the Digambara sect. These texts were, however, accepted partially by monks and followers of the Yapaniya sect.

The canonical texts written and edited under his leadership at Vallabhi have been accepted as the oldest works of Jain literature, with the Ācārāṅga Sūtra being accepted as the oldest among others such as Sutrakritanga Sutra and the Uttaradhyayana Sutra.

He also composed the scripture Nandisutra which lists a Pattavali.

Legacy

One of the texts that mention him is the Pattavali, in the second section of the Kalpa Sūtra, which is both an account and a praise of all the early Śvetāmbara Jain acharyas. The penultimate verse pays homage to them in the first person, and the last verse celebrates Devardhigani. It is as follows-

Sutt’-attha-rayaṇa-bharie
khama-dama-maddava-guṇehi sampanne
Deviḍḍhi-khamāsamaṇe
Kāsava-gotte paṇivayāmi

- Kalpa Sūtra Sthavirāvalī, final verse The above text, translated into English:-

I revere the Kṣamāśramaṇa Devarddhi of the Kāśyapa gotra, who wears, as it were, the jewel of the right understanding of the Sūtras and possesses the virtues of patience, self-restraint and clemency.

- Kalpa Sūtra Sthavirāvalī, final verse (Translated by Hermann Jacobi in 1884) Devardhigani's legacy extends beyond his scholarly achievements and is visible in the aagams (canonical texts) edited and written under his guidance. His dedication to preserving Jain scriptures and fostering unity within the community laid the groundwork for future generations of scholars and practitioners as the canonical texts form the basis of major Jain texts such as the Trishashti-Shalakapurusha-Charitra. His spiritual teachings continue to inspire Jain followers worldwide. With his death in 473 AD, the tradition of passing of scriptural knowledge orally came to an end as all canonical texts had been written.