________________
CCCIV
Kavyanusasana
of this work has been recovered which extends up to the end of the first Āhnika of the second adhyāya. Either the Āchārya did not live to finish the work, or the remaining portion yet awaits discovery if it is not destroyed. As it is, we have a hundred sūtras and the commentary on them preserved for us.
This work or the fragment of the work is interesting from many points of view. It shows Hemachandra as a logician and a master of the Darsanas. The work is characterized by his usual lucidity and preciseness of exposition.
The introduction to the first sūtra throws interesting light on the conception of authorship which Hemachandra had. 'The pūrva-paksha asks why does the author pose as a Jaina sūtrakāra ? There were so many sūtrakars before ! Hemachandra answers : "Your question is narrow. Rather ask what and how many were the grammatical and other sūtras before Pánini, Pingala, Kaņāda, Akshapada and others?” The opponents' silence is to be understood as allowing that there were many. Then Hemachandra goes on saying “These disciplines (Vidyās ) are without a beginning (Anādi); they become new from the point of view of Samkshepa-summarizing and Vistāra-expanding, and are said to be composed by this and that author also from the same point of view.” * What Hemachandra
* ननु यदि भवदीयानीमानि जैनसिद्धान्तसूत्राणि तर्हि भवतः पूर्व कानि किमीयानि वा तान्यासन्निति । अत्यल्पमिदमन्वयुङ्कस्थाः । पाणिनिपिङ्गलकणादाक्षपादादिभ्योऽपि पूर्वे कानि किमीयानि वा व्याकरणादिसूत्राणीत्येतदपि पर्यनुयुझ्व । अनादय एवैता विद्याः संक्षेपविस्तारविवक्षया नवनवीभवन्ति, तत्तत्कर्तृकाश्चोF I 5. 1. pp. 1-2
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