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________________ Some Less Known Verses of Siddhasena Divakara Prof. M. A, Dhaky The illustrious Jaina epistemologist, dialectician and poet of the calibre of Kalidasa, namely Siddha. sena Divakara (c. late 4th-early 5th cent. A.D.), had produced more than what today is extant. Among his lost works was the treatise on Jaina logic, the Nayavataral; a sentence perhaps from this very work is cited by Simha Suri ksamasramana (c. A.D. 625-675) in his commentary on Mallavadi ksamasramana's Dvadasaranayacakra (c. mid 6th cent. A.D.). And although his 20 dvatrimsikas in Sanskrit are available (from the alleged 32 5), the existence of some of the unavailable can be inferred from the quotations therefrom by other writers. The Siddhasena-carita inside the Prabhavaka-carita (S. 1344/A.D. 1278) of Prabhacandracarya of Raja-gaccha gives a legendary account of Siddhasena, the account at best can boast to contain only a few fragmented facts that could be historical. Among the significant data preserved in this work are a few quotations whose utterance is ascribed to Siddhasena Divakara, though these are not traceable inside his currently known works. Among such verses are the following which he is alleged to have composed in praise of, and recited before, king Vikramaditya (probably Candragupta II, A.D. 382-415): apUrveyaM dhanurvidyA bhavatA zikSitA kRtaH / mArgaNodhaH samabhyeti guNo yAti digantaram / / at 977*T*TAT: Farfa 14:1 yadyazorAjahaMsasya paJjaraM bhuvanatrayam / / sarvadA sarvado'sIti mithyA saMstUyase budhaH / nArayo lebhire paSThaM na vakSaH parayoSitaH / / 1. Cf. Muni Jambuvijaya (editor), Dvadasaram-nayacakran, pt. 1, Bhavanagar, 1966, Preface (Sanskrit) p. 10 and Introduction (Gujarati) p. 48. **." 2 prasti-bhavati-vidyati-padyati-vataMtayaH sanniyAta SaSThA: sattArthAH ityavizeSeNoktatvAt siddhsensuurinnaa| : 3. Jambuvijaya: Dvadasaras-nayacakran, p. 324. 4. The style of the phrase under reference does remind of Siddhasenacarya. . 5 The medieval and later medieval prabandhas and caritas so over. There are at present no means available to confirm or contradict their statement. 6. Ed. Jinavijaya Muni, Singhi Jaina Series, No. 13, Ahmedabad-Calcutta, 19310" .. 7. I am discussing this question at some length in my paper "Was Siddhasena Divakara Yapaniya ?" jaina varzana mImAMsA
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________________ bhayamekamane kebhyaH zatrubhyo vidhivatsadA / dadAsi tacca te nAsti rAjan citramidaM mahat / / These verses do not figure in Siddhasena's Gunavacana-dvatrimsika (Dva. 11) which evidently is addressed to a king. The style of the aforenoted verses apparently is pre-medieval. They do possess wit, strength, kick and dynamism not unlike those that characterise stanzas in some of Siddhasena's known dvatrimsikas. However, these verses are today not traceable in other known sources which otherwise show familiarity with one or the other of his works. Under the circumstances Siddhasena's authorship of the verses can genuinely be doubted. Indeed, there were in the past several pre-medieval Sanskrit poets possessing considerable skill and virtuosity. And the medieval prabandha, kathanaka and carita writers possessed strong propensity for picking up quotable quotes from various sources and different authors and, regardless of the period, style and provenance, used them depending on what the situation demanded! The case of the above-cited verses must, therefore, be kept open, even when one may grant the possibility of their being the product of Siddhasena Divakara. The Prabhavaka-carita, at one other place, introduces four verses in the context of Siddhasena, which, judging by their style, cadence, content and colour can be unhesitatingly hailed as coming from the pen of none else but Divakara : prakAzitaM yayakena tvayA samyagjagattrayam / samarapi no nAtha paratIrthAdhipaistathA / vidyotayati vA lokaM yarthako'pi nizAkaraH / samudagataH samagro'pi kiM tathA tArakAgaraNaH / / tvadvAkyato'pi keSAJcidabodha ipti me'dbhutam / bhAnomarIcayaH kasya, nAma nAlokahetavaH // na cAdbhutamulUkasya, prakRtyA kliSTacetasaH / svacchA mapi tamastvena bhAsante bhAsvata: karAH / / However, the Prabhavaka-carita is a work of a date late in the medieval period; for permitting an indubitable conclusion, a definite evidence for the indicated attribution from an earlier and a more reliable source is needed. For the first two verses the evidence comes from the Dharmopadesamala-vivarana (S. 905/A.D. 859) of Jayasimha Suri. The author quotes these verses as of Siddhasena Divakara's by an unambiguous qualificatory statement to the effect : 1. For detailed discussion, see Charlotte Krause, "Siddhasena Divakara and Vikrmaditya," Vikrama Volume, Ujjain, 1948, pp. 213-280. Pt. Hiralal Jain wrote a paper in Hindi in which he places Siddhasena Divakara exclusively in Candragupta II's time instead of his predecessor Samudragupta as well as Candragupta II as was done by Krause : Cf. "A contemporary Ode to Chandragupta Vikramaditya", Madhya Bharati, No. 1, Jabal pur University, Jabalpur, 1962. 2. Perhaps the nature and content of these stanzas are such that the Jaina writers hardly had use of them in their commentatorial writings. 3. Jinavijaya Muni, p. 59. 4. Ed. Pt. L.B. Gandhi, Singhi Jaina Series, No. 28, Bombay, 1949. 59 prAcAryaratna zrI vezabhUSaNa jI mahArAja namanAda prAya
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________________ Tad=uktan ca Siddhasena Divakarena--(p. 37) Jayasimha Suri-disciple of Kls arsi-is a pre-medieval writer who wrote his vivarana some 419 years before Prabbacandracarya. There can, then, be absolutely no doubt that wbat he quotes is genuine Siddhasena. The authenticity of the next two verses is upheld by an authority no less than Yakinisunu Haribhadra Suri (active c. A.D. 745-785). In his Avasyaka-vrtti (C c. A.D. 750) he cites those very verses as from Vadimukhya. By "Vadimukhya', at two other occasions, he also had meant Mallavadi Suri and Samantabhadra, the former a Svetam bara logician and dialecticiam (earlier referred to) and the latter his counterpart of the Digambara sect. However, in these latter two cases he specifically alludes to their names as well. In the case of the third "Vadimukhya", referred to in the above context, Haribhadra offers no such nomenic clarification, and, in this case, by reductio ad absurdum, the "Vadimukhya" has to be a third person, very plausibly Siddhasena Divakara. That it must be so is supported by another reference, in Haribhadra Suri's Prajnapana-sutra-tika (Pradesavyakhya), where he quotes a verse by "Vadimukhya," which is verse 13 in Siddhasena's Datrinsika 2. That Siddhasena Divakara was the author of these aforenoted four exquisite verses cited in the Prabhavaka-carita, is thus beyond doubt established. The Dharmopadesamala-vivarana, after the first two verses, quotes the following one and not those two quoted in the Prabhavaka-carita : tvanmatAmatabAhyAnAM sarvathaikAntavAdinAm / graf#19019191 (a)ez acea arua II The style of this stanza surely is in agreement with that of other verses of Siddhasena. The question arises whether all the 4+1=5 verses discussed in the foregoing originate from the same Dvatrinsika, separate Dvatrimsikas. This problem cannot at present be resolved. Hopefully, some day the lost ones will come to light from some uncombed area when we possibly can identify the original lodgment of the verses under reference in Divakara's productions. Till then we may at least cherish these verses as a precious small addition to our Siddhasena possessions. SUPPLEMENTUM As an after thought, and indeed with some hesitance, I would suggest that, if the verses beginning from A purreyam dhanur vidya could be by Siddhasena Divakara, as they do not seem unlikely, they may have formed the part of the Gunavacanadvatrimsika which today contains 28 verses, falling short by 4 more for making it a complete dvatrimsika. How far the former verses fit in the Gunavacana, and, if they do, where exactly their position could be is a point that can be settled by experts on Sanskrit poetics. While searching for more verses by Siddhasena, I came across one more; it is possibly from one of his hit herto unknown dvatrimsikas. The verse graphically describes, as it seems, the condition of a bad 1. Cf. Mohanlal Mehta, Jaina Sahitya ka Brhad Itihasa, pt. 3 (Hindi), Parshwanath Vidyashram Series, No. 11, Varanasi, 1967, p. 375, for quotation. 2. Cf. H.R. Kapadia (ed.), Anekantajaj apatika, Vol. II, Gaekwad's Oriental Series, No. CV, Baroda, 1947, Introduction, pp. LC, LCVI and LCVII. 3. Mehta, Jaina Sahitya., p. 370. 4. Gandbi, p. 37. jaina darzana mImAMsA
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________________ speaker in the assembly of erudites : tathA cAhuH zrIsiddhasenadivAkarapAdAH / svedaM samudvahati jambhaNAtanoti nidrAyate kimapi jalpati bastu zUnyam / mAzA vilokayati khaM punareva dhAtrIM bhUtAbhibhUta iva durvadakaH sabhAyAm / / Since this verse does not figure inside his known dvatrimsikas, it may have belong to a dvatrimsik a treating the theme of sabha and sabhasada. This verse has been quoted by Jinaprabha suri of Kharatara-gaccha in his Katantra-Vibhrama-t ika (S. 1352/A.D. 1296), as of Siddhasena Divakara. The style, tone, proclivity, cadence and cunning doubtless are of Siddhasena Divakara. A diligent search inside the Jaina literature, particularly inside the agamic curnis, vrttis, tikas, and of course kathanakas, caritas, Prabandhas as well as subhasita-anthologies and works on poetics is likely to reward with the discovery of some more such stanzas. For Siddhasena's compositions glitter like jewel in any corner they lie hidden or undetected. They cannot be missed, nor can they be mistaken as anybody else's, by a perceptive eye. 1. Comp. Muni Shri Punyavijayji, Catalogue of Sanskrit and Prakrit Manuscripts Jesalmer Collection, L.D. Series, 36, Ahmedabad, 1972, p. 207 prAcAryaratna zrI dezabhUSaNa jI mahArAja abhinandana prantha