37* Yasovijaya Gani (about 1608-1688 A.D.). 



By Mahamahopadhyaya Satis Chandra VidyabhOsana, 



M.A., Ph.D. 



Yasovijaya Gani (mentioned in Peterson's Catalogue, part 



Y sovi'a a "^ was a distinguished Jaina author 



a^ovijaya. w ^ flourished at Dabhoi in the Baroda 



State (Guzerat) approximately between 1608-1688 A.D. At 

 about 1626 A.D. he came to Benares where he studied the 

 higher branches of Sanskrit in the disguise of a Brahmana 

 ascetic. By about 1638 A.D. he confessed that he was a 

 Jaina and was asked at once to leave the Sanskrit acade- 

 mies of the Brahmanas. Going back to Guzerat he wrote more 

 than one hundred works (in Sanskrit and Guzerati) in which he 

 has preserved a detailed criticism on the Logic of Nadia 

 (Bengal) and Mthila (Behar) as taught in the Benares acade- 

 mies in the 17th century A.D. He died in 1688 A.D. 



Yasovijaya Gani was born in a well-to-do Vaisya family in 



Guzerat. He lost his father while he was 

 viit- y sti11 a little b ^y- His mother used every 



vijaya. «^ . •/ 



day to go to a ovetambara High-priest of 

 the Tapagaccha to listen to the hymn called Bhaktamarastotra. 

 Owing to rain she could not one day go out, but the hymn was 

 recited to her from memory by Yasovijaya himself. The High- 

 priest being told of this was pleased to observe that the little 

 boy, whose memory was so sharp ; would certainly turn out to be 

 a great man in the future. He immediately received him as 

 his disciple and ordained him to be a Jaina monk. The High- 

 priest of the Tapagaccha referred to here was named Naya vijaya, 

 whose genealogy is given below : — 



Hiravijaya Siiri 

 (the well-known Jaina priest of Akbar's time, 



born 1526 A.D. and died 1595 A.D.) 



I 

 Kalyana vijayopadhyaya 



Labha vijaya 



1 



Nay a vijaya 



I.. " 



Yasovijaya. 

 Having mastered the Jaina Sastras under Naya vijaya, 



Yasovijaya came to study Logic (Nyaya) 

 Visit to Benares in at t ^ e c ity of Benares where he lived 



lf5 c dftB * for twelve yean*. It is stated that the 



Brahmana with whom he studied Logic 



