Article: Devarddhi-gaṇi

Praise of Devarddhi-gaṇi
Image by Wellcome Trust Library © Wellcome Library, London

Devarddhi-gaṇi is named in several later works as a highly revered Jain teacher. He is explicitly linked to the ‘Kāśyapa gotra’, the most renowned monastic lineage, which is associated with most of the 24 Jinas.

One of the texts that mention him is the Sthavirāvalī, the second section of the Kalpa-sūtra, which is both an account and a praise of all the early Śvetāmbara Jain teachers. The final part is a verse homage to them in the first person, and the last verse celebrates Devarddhi-gaṇi.

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

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 virtue of patience, self-restraint, and clemency

Kalpa-sūtra, Sthavirāvalī, final verse
Translation by Jacobi 1884: 295

This is the best-known verse about Devarddhi-gaṇi and is found later in the R̥ṣimaṇḍalaprakaraṇa, a verse work in Prakrit praising the most famous Jain teachers of the tradition.

The ‘Kāśyapa gotra’ is one of the most famous monastic lineages associated with Jinas and several early Jain teachers. Of the 23 Jinas who came before Mahāvīra, 21 belonged to this lineage (Kalpa-sūtra, Jina-caritra, verse 2; Jacobi’s translation 1895: 218). Several of the early Jain teachers celebrated in the Sthavirāvalī – 'String of Elders' – were also in this mendicant lineage.

According to some Kalpa-sūtra commentators, the reason why Devarddhi is paid homage to here, at the end of the Sthavirāvalī, is his role in putting the Jina's words into writing (granthāḥ pustakeṣu likhitā, see Jacobi 1879: 114).

Teaching scene
Image by British Library © CC0 1.0 (Creative Commons Public Domain)

Very little is known about Devarddhi-gaṇi, as elements which would root him in history are unreliable, disputed or missing.

For example, his birth-place is sometimes given as Vairaval in Saurashtra (Illustrated Shri Nandi Sutra: 53) but no other sources support this.

Scholars debate the name of Devarddhi-gaṇi's religious teacher. For example, in the section of the fifth-century Nandī-sūtra where homage is paid to a number of early teachers, the last name is that of Dūsa-gaṇi, or Dūṣya-gaṇi in Sanskrit. Since Devavācaka is said to be the author of this work, and mendicant writers ended lists of their monastic lineages with their own masters, this suggests that Dūsa-gaṇi was his teacher. But this holds only if it is assumed that Devavācaka and Devarddhi-gaṇi are the same person.

Some writers believe that Devarddhi was initiated by another teacher, known as Lohicca or Lauhitya in Sanskrit (Illustrated Shri Nandi Sutra: 53).

Another view is that Devarddhi was the pupil of Ārya Śāṇḍilya (Puṇyavijaya 1968: English introduction, page 42).

Despite such arguments, nearly all personal information about Devarddhi-gaṇi is lacking.