Jaina Epistemology

SR No.: 006738
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Indra Chandra Shastri
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith
Publication Year: 1990
Total Pages: 516
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 21 MB

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Epistemology af Jainas
Dinnāga and Dharmakirti. It can be said, as in the case of many other commentaries, that it is as important as the text itself. Siddharsi is the author of Upamitibhavaprapancakathā and the commentary known as Heyopādeya on the Upadeśamālā, a Prākrta work in verse-form of Dharmadāsa.
There is one more point that enhances the value of this commentary, it is one of the few works representing the school of Siddhasena who differs from Akalarika in classification of pramāṇas.
SAMANTABHADRA:
Samantabhadra is recognised as a eulogist (stutikara) by the later scholars. His works are mainly eulogies in the praise of Tyrthankaras. But they are so pregnant with philosophy and logic that it would be wrong to class them merely with the devotional literature. He has criticised all the absolutists minutely while eulogising the propounder of nonabsolutism. He has applied the theory of non-absolutism to the Agamic as well as logical conceptions. It appears, that by this time logic had become a separate science and was treated as an independent subject.
Samantabhadra is recognised as the author of four works1. Svayambhūstotra, 2. Yuktyanusāsana, 3. Āptamimāṁsā and 4. Stutividyā.
(1) Svayambhūstotra is a eulogy of twenty-four Jaina Ticthankaras. It occupies very high place in the stuti-literature. Eulogy of every Tirthankara refers to one or the other system of thought allegorically. (2) Yuktyanuśāsana also is a philosophical eulogy. It points out the defects of other systems, and asserts that the teachings of Jina are free from them. The virtues of Jina, it claims further, are not found anywhere else. (3) Aptamīmāmsā is the master-piece of Samantabhadra. The examination of āpta, the person whose words can claim indubious validity, is the theme of this excellent composition. External pomp and show, he says, can be found in a juggler