Arhat Parshva and Dharnendra Nexus

SR No.: 002108
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: M A Dhaky
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad
Publication Year: 1997
Total Pages: 204
Language: English, Hindi
Classification: Book_English, Articles, History, Art, E000, & E001
File Size: 8 MB

Page 64

Arbat Parsva and Dharanendra Nexus
kärikäs of the Tattvärthadhigama-sutra invokes Siddhartha-nandana (Arhat Vardhamana Mahāvīra) but makes no allusion to Pārsva. And from among the extant 21 (out of the original 32) dvātriṁšikā-compositions of the great dialectician and epistemologist, Siddhasena Diväkara of the northern Nirgrantha stream (active C. A.D. 400-444), six alone are genuinely hymnic; among these the first five (numbered 1 to 5) are addressed to Jina Vīra, and the sixth (numbered the 21st), the Paratma-dvātrimšikā, is a "sadbāraṇa-Jina-stotra" even when in its verse 31 it mentions Mahāvīra as netā or leading figure (of the Nirgrantha religion). (The rest of his duȧtrimšika's are topical compositions, prakaraṇas.) It is then clear that none of the available hymnal compositions of Siddhasena refers to Pārsva.
The first reference to the association of Arhat Parsva with the Nāgarāja shining with gems atop his hoods is in a Prākṛta work, the Paümacariya of Vimala Sūri of Nagendra-kula (c. A.D. 473), figuring as it does in the inaugural hymn to the Caturviṁsati-Jinas in the initial chapter of this work: Nami Nemi taba ya Pasaṁ uraga-mahapbani-manisu pajjaliyam (1.6). Next, Svämi Samantabhadra (active c. A.D. 550-600)" of the southern Nirgrantha tradition, of a stature and fame equal to Siddhasena (but employing more sophisticated and much more ornate form of poetry), in his well-known hymn in Sanskrit, the Svayambhu-stotra, addressed his prayer to the 24 Jinas where the upasarga of Parsva together with the manifestation of Dharanendra finds a clear mention in association with Jina Pärśva." The concerned two verses are replete with power and are symptomatic of the true poetic calibre of this brilliant "chief among the debaters (vādi-mukhya)" and an ace epistemologist:
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तमाल-नीलैः सधनुस्तडिद्गुणैः
प्रकीर्ण - भीमाऽशनि वायु वृष्टिभिः । बलाहकैर्वैरि-वशैरुपद्रुतो
महामना यो न चचाल योगतः ॥ १ ॥ बृहत्फणा-मण्डल - मण्डपेन यं स्फुरत्तडित्पिङ्ग रुचोपसर्गिणम् । जुगूह नागो धरणो धराधरं
विराग-संध्या- तडिदम्बुदो यथा ॥ २ ॥
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श्रीबृद्दह्स्वयंभू स्तोत्र
Returning to northern Nirgrantha tradition, one notices that the second phase of Prākṛta compositions continues further in time. To begin with, the famous church