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Vastupāla (died 1240 CE) was a prime minister of the Vaghela dynasty king Vīradhavala and his successor Vīsaladeva, who ruled in what is now the Gujarat region of India, in the early 13th century. Although he served in an administrative and military capacity, he was also a patron of art, literature and public works. He, together with his brother Tejapāla, assisted in the restoration of peace in the kingdom, and served in a number of campaigns against Lāṭa, Godhra, Kutch district and the Delhi Sultanate. The brothers were instrumental in the construction of the Dilwara Temples and the Vastupala-vihara on Girnar.
Chandapa was a minister, probably in the Chaulukya court, where his son Chandaprasada also served as a minister. Jaishree, Chandaprasada's wife, bore him two sons, Sura and Soma, who became a jewel keeper to the Chaulukya ruler, Jayasimha Siddharaja. Soma's wife, Sita, bore him one son, Ashwaraja (or Asharaja). Later in life, Ashwaraja became a minister and married Kumaradevi, a daughter of Abhu, a Pragvata vanika and a dandapati (commander-in-chief) by profession. Kumaradevi was apparently a widow when she married Ashwaraja; however, this has been disputed.
The couple had eleven children — seven daughters: Jalhu (or Bhau or Jalu), Mau, Sau, Dhanadevi, Sohaga, Vaijuka (or Tejuka) and Padmaladevi; and four sons: Luniga, Malladeva, Vastupala and Tejapala. Luniga died in childhood while Malladeva died after fathering a son, Purnasimha.
Vastupala was married to Lalita and Vayajalladevi (or Sokhuka or Saukhyalata). Tejapala was married to Anupama and Suhavadevi (also spelled Suhadadevi). Anupama was a daughter of Dharaniga, a counselor to the brothers, and his wife Tribhuvanadevi.
The brothers also attacked Bhadreshwar, ruled by Bhimasimha of the Pratihara clan, in Kutch but were unsuccessful and ultimately concluded a peace treaty with him. Vastupala and Viradhavala were defeated by the three warriors from Marwar; Samantapala, Anandapala and Trilokasimha; who had supported Bhimasimha. Tejapala commanded an army against Ghughula, a chief of Godraha (modern day Godhra), and successfully captured him. Tejapala had him imprisoned within a wooden cage until he committed suicide by biting his tongue.
Sadik, a Muslim merchant, rejected the authority of Vastupala and induced Sankha (Sangramsimha), a ruler of Lata (now South Gujarat) to attack Stambhatirtha. Vastupala suffered a number of early defeats but he later received support from Mahechaka (although the Prabandha-chintamani states that it was Lunapala). After a fierce battle at Vatakupa near Stambhatirtha, Shankha retreated or was killed. Sadik was captured and put to death. Viradhavala ordered the confiscation his property, absorbing it into the state treasury. Vastupala received some part of his wealth.
The people of Stambhatirtha celebrated the victory by organising a festival in the temple of Goddess Ekallavira which lay outside the town. Vastupala attended the festival, and paid the homage to the goddess. The battle must have fought before he handed over administration of Stambhatirtha to his son, Jaitrasimha or Jayantastmha, in VS 1279 (1223 CE). Harihara's Sankha-Parabhava-Vyayoga is a historical play dramatizing this battle.
During the reign of Viradhavala, the Delhi Sultanate Mojdin attacked Gurjaradesa, an event that was dramatised in Hammira-mada-mardana, a Sanskrit play by Jaysimha Suri. The Prabandhka-kosha describes the Delhi army being forced to retreat after being encircled by Dharavarsha of Chandravati from the north, and Vastupala from the south, leaving the army trapped in a mountain pass near Arbuda (modern day Mount Abu).
In another action against the Delhi Sultanate, Vastupala secretly hired pirates to rob the mother of the Sultan when she was to board a ship, possibly at Stambhatirtha, taking her on a hajj to Mecca. The captain of the ship approached Vastupala who received the Sultan's mother with respect and returned the booty. Upon her return from Mecca, she presented Vastupala to the Sultan, who began friendly relations with Viradhavala. Vastupala was received with honour by Viradhavala for successfully safeguarding his realm from the predations of the Delhi Sultanate. Copied manuscripts of Hammira-mada-mardana are dated to around 1230 CE (VS 1286) and Vastupala had begun his career in 1220 CE (VS 1276) so this event is likely to have occurred between these two dates. These manuscripts are preserved in Jain library of Jaisalmer.
The Prabandhas mention that he died due to fever in a village Arkapalita (now Ankevalia in Gujarat), on his last pilgrimage to Mount Shatrunjaya, but this is not mentioned in Vasanta-vilasa.
The Vividha-tirtha-kalpa and Prabandha-kosha mention that Vastupala lost his ministerial authority to Nagar Brahmin Nagada. Two different stories are mentioned: One stating that Visaladeva was angered because Vastupala had declared the punishment to his maternal uncle for insulting a Jain monk. Another states that Visaladeva decided to punish Vastupala when he found that some of state revenues were used for the temple constructions. In both the stories, Someshvara saved Vastupala from punishment. This is counter to other sources that mention Visaladeva being dissatisfied with Vastupala but did not make any mention of a loss of ministerial authority. The Abu inscription, dated to the 3rd day of the bright half of the Magha month VS 1296 (26 April 1240 CE), suggests that Tejapala succeeded him as minister so the king must not have removed him as a minister. Tejapala's son Lunasimha is mentioned as a governor of Bhrigukachcha (modern day Bharuch) in a colophon of a palm-leaf manuscript dated VS 1296 (1242 CE). Tejapala is mentioned as a minister ( mahamatya) in a manuscript of Ācārāṅga Sūtra dated to VS 1303 (1247 CE). The Vastupala-charita mentions that Tejapala died ten years after the death of Vastupala, so he may have died in VS 1306 (1250 CE), VS 1308 (1252 CE) or VS 1304 (1248 CE). Nagada is first mentioned as a minister in VS 1310 (1254 CE) so Tejapala must have died between 1247 CE and 1254 CE.
More than fifty temples were commissioned by Vastupala and Tejapala in addition to a large number of renovations and image installations. Vastupala commissioned the construction of Indra-mandapa and six other temples on Shatrunjaya hill, the Adinatha temple at Dholka, Ashtapada-prasada at Prabhas Patan, Vastupala-vihara and Parshwanatha temple on Girnar. The Girnar temples were built in 1232 CE. His brother, Tejapala, commissioned the construction of Asharaja-vihara at Tejalapur, Patan and Junagadh in memory of his father. He also commissioned the Neminath Temple at Dholka, Adinath Temple at Prabhas, as well as temples at Tharad, Ahmedabad, Godhra, Shatrunjaya, Girnar, Pavagadh, Navsari among others. In memory of his mother Kumaradevi, he had temples built at Khambhat and Dabhoi. Vastupala built a temple dedicated to Mahavira, an Upashraya (prayer house for monks) and excavated a tank at Padaliptapura (modern day Palitana). He also built large tanks at Arakapalita and Suryapura, two statues at the temple dedicated to Mahavira at Modhera, and Shakunika-vihara at Bharuch.
The Dilwara Temples dedicated to Neminatha was built on Mount Abu by Tejapala in memory of his elder brother Luniga in 1231 CE. There are about thirty inscriptions mentioning additions to the temples and his family members. The Prabandhas state that the Luniga-vasahi cost twelve crores and fifty-three lakhs while the Girnar temples cost eighteen crores and ninety-six lakhs, although these figures may be an exaggerated. Of the temples built by the brothers, only a few survive such as Vastupala-vihara at Girnar (1231 CE), Neminath Temple at Abu and the temple at Prabhas.
Born into an aristocratic family, the brothers were quite wealthy and were patrons of many public works. The Prabandhas contain numerous stories of their wealth, some of which read like folktales while others are contemporaneous accounts. One account tells of the brothers seeking to bury part of their wealth, worth one lakh, near the village of Hadalaka (modern Hadala near Dhandhuka). However, upon excavation, they discovered a large treasure. Anupama, wife of Tejapala, counselled Vastupala to keep it on the peaks of the mountains so it may not fall in the hands of others, as it fell to theirs. The brothers had the Jain temples of Girnar and Dilwara Temples built and led pilgrimages there. Her advice proved sound and these are the only surviving public works built by the brothers.
Many literary works were commissioned at his request such as the Katha-ratnakara of Narachandra Suri and the Alankara-mahodadhi of Narendraprabha Suri. He had made a copy of Dharmabhyudaya Mahakavya of Udayaprabha Suri, a pupil of Vijayasena Suri. This copied manuscript, dated VS 1290 (1234 CE), has been stored in the Jain library of Khambhat.
Harihara, Someshvara and other poets gave him a poetic name, Vasantapala, and Balachandra named his biographical work, Vasanta-vilasa. Vastuapala wrote Naranarayanananda and noted in its conclusion that his first poem was a hymn praising Adinatha in the temple on the Shatrunjaya hills. This hymn is Adinatha Stotra, or Ishwara-manoratha-maya Stotra, and consists of twelve verses. Another of his Stotra, Nemistava, contains ten verses, eight dedicated to Neminatha and two to himself. Ambika Stotra is dedicated to Ambika, the presiding goddess of Neminatha and the Kuldevi of Pragavata, his clan. It has ten verses, eight of which praise Ambika, the ninth contains blessings for the devotee and the tenth is reserved for himself. He wrote a short ten verse devotional, Aradhana, which would be his last composition. Prabandha-kosha notes that the first verse of it, "Na Kritam Sukritam Kinchit", was spoken by him on his death-bed. Aradhana is also mentioned in the Puratana-prabandha-samgraha and the Prabandha-chintamani.
Vastupala was considered an expert in composing Sanskrit suktis (stray poetry), drawing praise from Someshvara and Udayaprabha. A number of his works appear in anthologies written by others. Suktimuktavali, a 13th-century anthology commissioned by the Yadava general Jalhana, contains four of his verses as does the Sharngadhara-paddhati written by Sharangdhara of Shakambhari.
His Naranarayanananda is a long poem describing the friendship between Krishna and Arjuna, their walk and talks in the gardens of Raivataka (Girnar), and the later abduction of Krishna's sister Subhadra by Arjuna. The subject is taken from Vana Parva of Mahabharata. It consists of 16 cantos with 794 verses. He mentioned his pilgrimages at the end of the poem so it must have been written after 1221 CE, the year of his first major pilgrimage. Parts of the poem were quoted by others, such as Kavya-kalpalata of Amarachandra, who drew one verse, and Jalhana who included the sixth verse from the first canto in his Sukti-muktavali.
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