Note on Hemchandras Abhidhanchintamani and Sanskrit Karmavati

SR No.: 269135
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Nalini Balbir
Publisher: ZZ_Anusandhan
Total Pages: 33
Language: English
Classification: Article & 0_not_categorized
File Size: 90 KB

Page 7

फेब्रुआरी २०११
१७३
wheel of time” (dvādaśāram kālacakram, AC II.42 and Trişaşți. 1.2.111) at length. The name of each spoke is given, followed by its total duration. Life duration, size and the mortals' frequency of food-taking in the different spokes are stated for the first three spokes, then for the fourth, fifth and six ones. Most verses of the Abhidhānacintāmaņi are found identical in the corresponding passage of the Trișașți. 10 There is no doubt that the author has used them in a “paste-copy” procedure, perhaps from the Trişasti. to the AC: their descriptive contents make them different in character from all surrounding verses of the lexicon, which are made of lists of synonyms, and thus break the normal pace. In the Trisasți. these didactic verses are supplemented by some additional ones describing the resources supplied by the kalpadrumas, a topic irrelevant in the context of a discussion of time like that of the lexicon, although the word itself is present (II.47).
In the Abhidhānacintāmaņi, this typically Jaina development is followed by terms relating to the divisions of time in the usual meaning of the word, from the smallest unit (18 nimeșa = 1 kāșthā, II. 50) up to the largest one, the kalpa (II.75), before proceeding to the next topic, namely space (vyoma, II.77). The result is a combination of purely Jaina data wilh pan-Indian information of the type provided in the Amarakośa or the Hindu Purāņas (see below 3 (b)). Yet, Hemacandra's lexicon distinguishes itself from other sources by the presence of terms he is the only one to mention. Sanskrit karmavāti (herefrom k.) is such a word:
pañcādaśāhorātraḥ syāt pakṣaḥ, sa bahulo 'sitaḥ.
tithiḥ punaḥ karmavāți, pratipat pakṣatiḥ same (II.61; 147 in Böhtlingk-Rieu ed.).
Because the earliest scholarly edition of Hemacandra's lexicon was co-authored by Otto Böhtlingk, the word entered the Sanskrit-German dictionary (also known as the Petersburg
10. AC. II.43 =Trişasti. I.2. 113; 44 = 114; 47=134; 48=135; 49=136.