Pujyapada

Acharya Shri 108 Pujyapada Ji Maharaj
Digambara Acharya
Religion	Jainism
Sect	Digambara
Personal
Born	Devanandi 464 CE
Died	524 (aged 59–60)
Parents	Madhava Bhatta (father) Shridevi (mother)
Religious career
Disciple(s)	Durvinita
Works	Sarvārthasiddhi, Iṣṭopadeśa

Acharya Pujyapada or Pūjyapāda (464 - 524 CE) was a renowned grammarian and acharya (philosopher monk) belonging to the Digambara tradition of Jains. Since it was believed that he was worshiped by demigods on account of his vast scholarship and deep piety, he was named Pujyapada. He was said to be the guru of King Durvinita of the Western Ganga dynasty.

Pujyapada flourished in fifth or sixth century CE. He is said to have lived from 510 CE to 600 CE. Before initiation as a Digambara monk, he was known as Devanandin. He was heavily influenced by the writings of his predecessors like Acharya Kundakunda and Acharya Samantabhadra. He is rated as being the greatest of the early masters of Jain literature. He was prominent preceptor, with impeccable pontifical pedigree and spiritual lineage. He was a great yogi, sublime mystic, brilliant poet, noted scholar, eminent author and master of several branches of learning. He wrote in Sanskrit, in prose as well as verse form. He was pontiff of the Nandi sangha, which was a part of the lineage of Acharya Kundakunda. He was the tenth guru of the pontifical lineage of the Nandi Sangha. He was born in a Brahmin family of Karnataka. His parents were Madhava Bhatta and Shridevi.

It is likely that he was the first Jain saint to write not only on religion but also on secular subjects, such as ayurveda and Sanskrit grammar. Acharya Pujyapada, besides being a profound scholar of the Jainism and a mendicant walking in the footsteps of the Jinas, was a grammarian, master of Sanskrit poetics and of ayurveda.