Vādikavi Ācārya Bappabhattisuri Mahārāja Sāheb was a Śvetāmbara Jain ascetic in the 8th century CE.
Apart from his literary contributions, he is best known for his scriptural debates and the reforms he brought about in the iconography of Tirthankara idols sculpted and owned by the Śvetāmbara sect of Jainism.
[1] He was born as Surapala to Bappa (father) and Bhatti (mother) belonging to an Oswal family in the year 743 CE in a small village known as Duva in the present-day Banaskantha district in Gujarat.
He recalled a dream he saw the previous night of a young lion springing upon a table at the exact place Surapala was standing at.
The preceptor agreed and initiated him and named him Muni Bappabhatti, in respect to and memory of Surapala's parents.
[1][4] He is one of the very few ascetics who attained the position of an Ācārya in the Chaturvidha Sangha of Jainism in just 4 years after initiation as a Jain monk.
Since Jain monks do not touch unboiled water, he halted at a temple, waiting for the rain to stop.
[9][10][11] Vardhana Kunjara, a popular Buddhist scholar and orator was living in King Dharmaraja's kingdom at that time.
Bappabhattisuri is said to have invoked demi-goddess Ambika who brought the idol of Neminatha from atop the hill for the king to worship and break his fast.
A sangha of 11 Digambara kings with heavy artillery and cavalry were ready to engage into a battle to establish ownership over the shrine atop the mountain.
[16][17][18] Bappabhattisuri suggested to ask demi-goddess Ambika about the true ownership of the shrine atop the mountain.
Just as Bappabhattisuri looked at her, and blessed her by raising his hand and showing his palm, demi-goddess Ambika spoke through her the following words and declared about the ownership of the pilgrimage site: -[16][17][18] In Prakrit: - Transliteration in English: - Translation in English: - Hearing this hymn in Prakrit, everyone was confused, so a Digambara king politely asked Bappabhattisuri about the meaning of this hymn.
Since Śvetāmbaras made the girl speak, they emerged victorious and ascended the hill to complete their pilgrimage.
It is said that after these lines, the Śvetāmbara crowd spoke the following words in unison: -[16][4][17][18] The meaning of the above words: - Unlike Digambara scriptures, the Śvetāmbara canon endorses and accepts both Sthavirakalpi (clothed) and Jinakalpi (naked) ascetics as described in the Ācārāṅga Sūtra and the Sutrakritanga Sutra.
The Śvetāmbara canon and subsequently written non-canonical scriptures that describe the canon in greater detail also describe that the liberated state of a Tirthankara has no possessions (such idols are, therefore, naked), while the worldly state of a Tirthankara can be decorated and shown devotion towards by 'using expensive materials of decoration' (such idols are, therefore, clothed).
Followers of the Śvetāmbara sect, therefore, worshipped both clothed and nude idols of Tirthankaras before disputes between them and Digambaras arose.
Some of the texts that mention him are as follows: - He was also awarded with several titles such as — Vadikunjara Kesari, Bala-Brahmachari, Gajavara, Rajpujita, and Vadikavi.