The Rashtrakutas and their Times c23.s2.18

c23.s2.18

Many Rāṣṭrakūṭa emperors like Amoghavarṣa I, Kṛṣṇa and Indra III were either themselves Jains or patrons of that religion; the same was the case with many of their feudatories and officers as shown in chapter XIII.³⁵ It is, therefore, no wonder that the contribution of Jainism to literature should have been considerable. Haribhadra flourished by the middle of the 8th century A.D., but his works cannot be considered here as his province is not known. Samantabhadra, the author of the Āptamīmānsā, which contains a most interesting exposition of the Syādvāda, flourished before our period, but several commentaries were written on his work in the Deccan from the middle of the 8th century A.D. onwards. Akalankadeva's commentary Aṣṭas'ati was written early in the Rāṣṭrakūṭa period. S'ravana-Belgola inscription No. 67 refers to Akalankadeva as describing his own greatness to Sāhasatunga who, it is conjectured, may have been Dantidurga. There is a tradition to the effect that Akalankadeva himself was a son of Kṛṣṇa I,³⁶ but more evidence would be required to accept it as historical. Vidyānanda, the author of Aṣṭasahasrī, which is a more exhaustive commentary on the Āptamīmānsā, flourished a little later. He is mentioned in S'ravana Belgola inscriptions.³⁷