Book Title: Sabdabrahmollasa Of Udayprabha
Author(s): Vidyut Aklujkar
Publisher: Vidyut Aklujkar
Catalog link: https://jainqq.org/explore/269244/1

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Page #1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ VIDYUT AKLUJKAR SABDABRAHMOLLASA OF UDAYAPRABHA THE Sabdabrahmollasa of Udayaprabha, as it is available today, consists of 47 verses which are of the nature of a stotra or hymn. Udayaprabha was a Jain Suri of the Nagendragaccha and a junior contemporary of Vastupala, minister of Viradhavala of Gujarat in the 13th century A.D. (For more information on Udayaprabha, please see the New Catalogus Catalogorum and the works referred to in the bibliography.) Other works of Udayaprabha are of considerable length and contain myths, geneologies, stories current in the literature, dogmas, and moralistic fables. The title of the work at hand is inferred from the second verse. The author mentions the titles of his other works in the body of those works (e.g. verse 17 of the Dharmabhyudaya Mahakavya); therefore the inference regarding the title of the present work is justifiable. However, little more can be said with certainty about the nature of Sabdabrahmollasa. Sandesara (1953:72) suggests that it may have been a treatise on the nature of grammar. This is not impossible. But one should note that in the available portion Udayaprabha does not systematically discuss any topic pertaining to the philosophy of grammar. True, in the first two verses he does employ terminology closely resembling that of philosophers of language like Bhartshari, but it is not consistently retained in the succeeding verses. Nor do Page #2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 230 THE ADYAR LIBRARY BULLETIN Udayaprabha's other works furnish any evidence of his deep interest in the philosophy of grammar or language. Therefore, the other possibility worth considering is that the Sabdabrahmollasa is simply a stotra unique in that it was written to celebrate the manifestation of the highest principle through speech. The extant verses appear to be written in this spirit. The author seems to be deliberately using words with sectarian flavour in such a way as to impress upon the reader the thesis that they all ultimately refer to the same highest principle, The tendency to identify the Jina or the Arhattattva with the highest principles of other systems is found to a certain extent in the works of other Jain scholars as well. It is said to have been in vogue since the time of Siddhasenadivakara and Samantabhadra. The Bhaktamarastotra (verses 24-26), Haribhadrasuri's Dvatrimsika (verses 4, 5), Nayavimala's Srisankhesvara-parsvaprabhustotra (verse 20) are examples of the same tendency. However, Udayaprabha uses such identifications not just in a passing remark, but seems to express through them his consciously cultivated view about the role of language in speaking of the highest principle. He may have even set forth that view in the now lost portion of the Sabdabrahmollasa. This guess is supported by the fact that Udayaprabha once mentions the view sarvarthavacakah sarve sabdah, usually attributed to the grammarians, and puts it to test, as it were, in many verses of the available portion. The conscious synthesis of religious and Page #3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SABDABRAHMOLLASA OF UDAYAPRABHA 231 theoretical distinctions is what makes the available Sabdabrahmollasa interesting. The style of the fragment is simple and lucid. The metre is anustubh, Udayaprabha's favourite. A few simple sabdalamkara-s such as yamaka and anuprasa and standard arthalamkara-s such as rupaka are used. In this it differs from Udayaprabha's other works such as Sukstakallolini where he employs numerous classical metres and many more elaborate figures of speech. The only available MS. of the work is on palm leaves. It was originally in the Khetaravasi Bhandar at Patan and is now deposited in Sri Hemacandracarya Jaina Jnanamandira at Patan. I deciphered the text from its photostat copy kindly made available by Professor D. D. Malvania. Dr. N. M. Kansara made some suggestions after comparing my version of the text with the photostat copy. I am indebted to both these scholars. I have acknowledged the letters first deciphered by Kansara with the letters NMK in my notes. The measurements of the folios of the palm-leaf MS. are given as 9"x111" on my photocopy. Although C. D. Dalal and the editors of the New Catalogus Catalogorum describe the MS. as having 14 pages (i.e. leaves) and 49 verses, the MS. at present has only 13 leaves and 47 verses. One leaf seems to have been lost sometime between 1915-18, the probable years of Dalal's compilation, and 1953, when Sandesara's account was published. In the photocopy available to me, the front side of the eighth leaf is totally illegible Page #4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 232 THE ADYAR LIBRARY BULLETIN and the back side of the seventh leaf is considerably illegible. The last two leaves, i.e. 12th and 13th, seem to be smeared with very dark ink, although the text on them could be restored with effort. The lettering is fairly large at the beginning of most pages, but it becomes smaller later on. The MS. displays doubling of the phonemes following r, e.g. sarvva, karmma. It is not uniform in the writing of the parasavarna-s. or of the anusvara-s at the end of a line. Page #5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ zabdabrahmollAsaH [F 1]OM namaH sakalAdhyAtmatattvavAce' parAtmane / zabdabrahmavivartakabIjAyAkSaramUrtaye // 1 // ajihmprmbrhmrverudydiipkH| prabhodayaprabhaH zabdabrahmollAsaH prakA[B 1]zatAm // 2 // OMkArAya namastasmai pArameSThikalAtmane / aha~zcAyoga AcArya upAdhyAyo munizca yaH // 3 // zrIsiddhacakrasadvIjasvarUpaM paramArthatA / arahasyarahasyaM yaH sakalaM veda veda saH / / 4 / / [F 2]AdyAntyau mantrajIhvArNI nAdabindukalAnvitau / . arhatsiddhau tathAcAryopAdhyAyau samunI stumaH / / 5 / / 1 degtatvavace MS. * prakasatam MS. 3 I do not understand this word. One of the meanings of the word arna is 'letters of the alphabet'. Even if one takes it in that rare sense, its connection to the word mantra is not clear because of the strange intervening word jihva. Kansara suggests that perhaps ji is wrongly written for ji, and wonders whether jihvarnau could not mean 'uttered syllables'. He is also inclined to consider jivya as a more plausible reading. I think that if at all the available reading is to be emended, mantrajivarnau meaning ' letters whose life is the mantra' or 'letters constituting the life of the mantra' would be better as a reading. Page #6 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 234 THE ADYAR LIBRARY BULLETIN zaktiH zivasya, hetUnAM pratiSThA, siddhirahatAm / aizvaryotkarSavizrAntirArhattyaM vaH [B 2]prasIdatu // 6 // svairnAmasthApanAdravyabhAvaiH sarvatra sarvadA / aha~strilokImapyetAM punAnaH pAtu dehinaH / / 7 / / sakalaizvaryavairAgyadharma[F 3]vijJAnasaMpadAm / / arhantamekamAdhAramIzvaraM praNidadhmahe / / 8 / / ahaM smarAmi tAdAtmyAt taM rUDhayA paramezvaram / sthitaM vAgbrahmaNaH pAre paraM bra[B 3]hmeti yaM viduH / / 6 / / suvarNadAmani grIvAmaNDane'ntyamaNidvayam / prabhoryasyAGikataM nAmnA stumahe taM mahezvaram / / 10 / aprameyamanAdyantamavikAramanAvilam / upAsmahe [F 4]paraM dyotiridaM brahmAtmakaM vibhu / / 11 / / 1 arhantyam MS. 2 Although jyotis is a more common word, one need not emend the text here. The form dyotis is clearly readable in the MS. at this place, and also in verse 18. Moreover, since dyotis (noun) can mean light, brilliance', there is no incompatibility with the context. At least one more instance of the use of the word dyotis by Udayaprabha is found in verse 144 of his Sukrtakallolini. Other Jain scholars like Hemacandra also occasionally use dyotis in place of jyotis. (Hemacandra's Arhan-nama-samuccaya, as printed in the Jaina Stotra Sandoha, contains the line visalo vipulodyotir atulo 'cintyavaibhavah. However, a compound vipulodyotih would be ungrammatical, whether the second member is held to be dyotis or uddyotis. One should instead read two words, vipulo dyotih, and take dyotih as being in apposition to arhat or the other adjectival names in the Arhan-nama-samuccaya.) Page #7 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SABDABRAHMOLLASA OF UDAYAPRABHA 235 bahiraGagairantaraGagaistaraGagaiH sarvapoSitAm / ahaM tAmeva saMstaumi zivAM kaivalyasaMpadam // 12 // yatrAnyamahasAM dhvAntamahamasmIti ya[B 4]nmahaH / tadanyApohanirmohamAtmanaiva prasIdatu // 13 // ahaMkAramanaSTAtmarUpamAntaramIDmahe / sphuratyupari vizvasya yatparispandasaMpadaH // 14 / / [F 5]dRgjJAnAnandazaktInAM yatrAnantyamabAdhitam / tadanAropitaizvaryamahattattvamupAsmahe // 15 // zravaNaM mananaM dhyAnaM sAkSAtkaraNamityasau / [B 5] kriyAcatuSTayI me stAdahattattvaikagocarA / / 16 / / paraM brahmezvaraH zaktirlokezaH kezavaH zivaH / buddhaH zUnyamalakSazcetyaha~stava vibhUtayaH // 17 // doSanAstikakarmajJa brahmajJAninnanAvR[F 6]ta / sugatAtmavivekajJa dyotirjaTila te namaH // 18 // carAcarANAmutpAdavigamadhrauvyazAsanAt / sargapralayazAntInAmekastvaM heturIziSe / / 16 // pRthvIpIThadRDhe tiryagdvAryanuttarabhUhRdi / *lo[B 6]kAgracUle brahmANDaprAsAde daivataM bhavAn / / 20 / / 1 positam NMK. 2 degnaivam MS.? 3 Grammar warrants sphurantyudeg. - drkjnadeg MS. See note 6 below. 5 See note 2 on p. 234. stiryakdeg MS. See mote 4 above. lo written twice in MS. Page #8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 236 THE ADYAR LIBRARY BULLETIN pRthivyApaH zikhI vaayuyomenduH puruSo raviH / mUrtayo'STau jayantyetAstrailokyavyApikAstava / / 21 / / mithyAtvamapyavijJAya paramArthamupAsitaH / yo'pi so'pi zritastatvAjJAtvA samyaktvamIza'[F7] me|| vidyAtitaunA bhUtiM kSityAdyAmIza bhUyasIm / . hitvAtha tvAM vicinvanti cinmayaM mauktikaM kaNam / / vidyAvAsyAbhisaMtakSya prapaJcAkhyA bahistvacaH / tvAM viviJcanti sUtrajJAH sArazeSaM jagattaroH // 24 / / mAyAmayamatikramya[B 7] . . . . durdinam / . . . . . . . . . // 25 // dRSTevidyAjanairyeSAmavadyaM paTalaM hatam / / zuddhasvarUpaM te rUpamIza te draSTumIzate / / 26 / / jAgarUkendriyagrAmaira . . . . . / . . [F 8] . . . . . . . . // 27-8 / / . . . . [B 8]chinnapAzAya te namaH / nAnAGgavidyAdehAya niHsaMdehAya te namaH / / 26 // namastubhyaM mahezAya mahAdevAya te namaH / nirvikalpa namastubhyamahaMstubhyaM namo namaH // 30 // eka [F 9]eva praNAmaste dadAtyeva shriirinnaam| mahimAnaM zriyaM mAnaM jJAnaM nirvRtisaMpadam // 31 // 1 Whether this is to be read as tat tvam jnatva samyak tvam is not clear. a hitvatha tvam NMK. 3 hate MS. * suddhasvaripam te rupam isa te dras tum NMK. drastam MS. Page #9 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SABDABRAHMOLLASA OF UDAYAPRABHA 237 jina tvAmapi natvA yaH paraM namati durmatiH / natirna tasya bhAvasya, gauravAt kiM tu karmaNaH // 32 // [B 9]yAM kRtvA . . . . . bhUyastvaM naiva namyase / tAmekAmeva' manye'hamanyeha na natirnatiH / / 33 / / prasAdayanti yaireva' ye tvAM trailokyanAyakam / indriyArthaiH prasAdyante taiste puSpapaNArpa[F 10]NaiH // 34 // vividhAraprasaMbhArairaya'se nedamadbhutam / saMbhArAn saMparityajya dhanyAste yaistvamIseM // 35 // kartAhamarhankarmeti pUrvaM, saivAhamityartha / tato'pyastu dvayAtItaM tvayi dhyA[B 10]naM maheza me // 36 // yaH sarvavedI saikajJo ya ekajJaH sa sarvavit / / tvayeSTasyeti nAsmASuH syAdadvaitasya duddhiyaH / / 37 / / sarvArthavAcakAH sarve zabdA iti tava zrutiH / [F 11]kathaMcit prathayantyevAdvaitavaitaNDikaM mtm|| 38 // tvayA yaduktamA mukterA bhavAcca svayaMbhuvA / svAmin sAmyaM tadadvaitaM na samarthayate katham // 39 // yA jJAturAgame[B 11] jJAnajJeyAnanyatayA zrutiH / sApi prAmANyamApnoti nAdvaitena vinA vibho // 40 // 1 tamekameva MS. 2 yaio NMK 3 taiste NMK. 4 yaistvamarhyase NMK. 5 purvam saivaham NMK. * pyastu dvayadeg NMK. ? vaitimaikam MS. 'with elision of i in ti indicated by writing mark on top of it. a Page #10 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 238 THE ADYAR LIBRARY BULLETIN tvaM vizvarUpastvadrUpaM vizvamityaikyadRSTibhiH / advaitAbhyAsato labhyaM sArvazyamiti' nAdbhutam // 41 // jA[F 12]yamAnamajaM yogin nidrAluM nityajAgaram / vizvarUpamarUpaM tvAmAmananti manISiNaH // 42 // vizvaM tvanmayamevedamiti jJAnavatAM satAm / sarvatra tIrthaM no tIrthamapi [B 12]tIrthaM viparyaye / / 43 / / arhyase yatra tatrApi yatra tatrApi vandyase / cintyase yatra tatrApi sarvatrApi tvamIzvara / / 44 / / jJAnaM dAnaM kraturdIkSA kSAntiH zAntirjapastapaH / jIvatyadhiSThitaM sarvaM tvayedaM paramAtmanA / / 45 / / yadA tvatto [F 13]na vizvatra vizvavAtarihetarat / tadA kautaskutaM mithyAdarzanaM parameza naH / / 46 // tvameva pitarau svAmI guruH kAruNiko'si vA / svaM putraM kiMkaraM ziSyaM dInaM vArya pratIccha mAm // 47 // sarvvajnamiti MS. 2 Perhaps this is to be read as no 'tideg, i.e. with an avagraha in between. 8 tvatto NMK. Page #11 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ BIBLIOGRAPHY Caturavijayamuni. 1962. (Ed.) Faina Stotra Samdoha, pt. 1. Ahmedabad, Sarabhai Manilal Nawab. Dalal, C.D. (and Gandhi, L. B.). 1937. A Descriptive Catalogue of Manuscripts in the Jain Bhandars at Patan, vol. 1. Baroda, Gaekwad's Oriental Series No. LXXVI. Durgaprasad and Pansikar, Vasudeva Laxman Sastri. 1907. [Eds.] Kavyamala, pt. VII. Bombay, Nirnaya Sagara Press. Krause, Charlotte. 1952. (Ed.) Ancient Jaina Hymns. Scindia Oriental Series No. 2. Ujjain, Scindia Oriental Institute. Sandesara, Bhogilal J. 1953. Literary Circle of Mahamatya Vastupala and its Contribution to Sanskrit Literature. Singhi Jain Series No. 33. Bombay, Singhi Jain Shastra Shikshapith, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.