Pravachansara

SR No.: 010843
Original Sutra Author: Kundkundacharya
Author: A N Upadhye
Publisher: Manilal Revashankar Zaveri Sheth
Publication Year: 1935
Total Pages: 595
Language: Hindi
Classification: Book_Devnagari
File Size: 48 MB

Page 114

INTRODUCTION.
HIS SCHOLARSHIP, STYLE ETC.-As a commentator Amṛtacandra's position is really great, because, so far as we know, he is the first commentator on the authoritative works of Kundakunda. He does not aim at verbal explanation, but he wants simply to propound the philosophical contents of the gāthās. Sometimes, however, it is possible to conjecture a particular Prakrit reading from his close paraphrase.1 His zeal for Anekanta logic is very great: that is quite clear from his commentaries and other works. He shows close àcquaintance with Digambara as well as S'vetambara works. He quotes from Mokkhapahuḍa of Kundakunda. He quotes a Vyavahārasūtras which appears to be possibly some S'vetambara work; Jayasena not being aware of any such work translates the same by. Cirantana-prayas'citta-sutra. He quotes a gatha from Sanmati of Siddhasena. His mastery over Sanskrit idiom is remarkable; his handling of Jaina technical terms is so natural and easy that he does not hesitate even to translate them like ordinary common nouns. He knows the value of pithy remarks and concise exposition; sometimes repetition is seen here and there, and this habit he appears to have contracted from Kundakunda's Samayasara. Sometimes his prose is artificial, though the current of his expression is very forceful. Amrtacandra is more a poet than a prose writer; to this even a few verses in his commentary on Pravacanasāra bear witness. As a spiritual poet (adhyātma-kavi) his position is simply unique and unequalled by any Jaina author before or after him. His Samayasāra-kalas'a is a veritable mine of finely phrased and carefully polished melodious verses containing the essence of Atmavidya; it has left lasting influence on some of the later authors like Padmaprabhadeva; and the subject matter is discussed with such a dignity in suitable metres that this compilation is enough to commemorate the poetic talents of Amrtacandra.
XCIX
QUOTATIONS IN HIS TATTVADĪPIKĀ.-There are only five quotations in his Pravacanasara-commentary. The verse anandamṛta etc. is introduced with the phrase 'bhavati cātra s'lokaḥ'; this use of the singular, though there two more verses coming after that, shows that it is perhaps a quotation; but I have not been able to trace it anywhere. Taking together two more quotations, jāvadiya vayana-vaha and para-samayānam, which are quoted one after the her, they are found in the same order in Gommatasära (Karma-kanda 894-5),
there is practical agreement between the readings. Their consecutive sition and verbal agreement tempt one to suggest that Amṛtacandra might
taken them from Gommatasara; but one cannot be dogmatic on this it, because Gommatasara is a work of compilatory character; and there is very possibility of these gathās being found in Dhavala and Jayadhavala commentaries. The first gāthā is found in Sanmati-prakarana of Siddhasena (III, 47), but Amṛtacandra, though acquainted with the works of Siddhasena, does not appear to have quoted it from that source for the following reasons:
1 See for instance I, 19 (adimdio), 51 (visamam) eto.
2 Pañcāstihāya on gatha 146, p. 212.
3 Samayasara p. 404.
4 Pañcāstikaya on gatha 172, p. 251.
"