Somnolent Stras Sriptural Cmmentary In Svetambara Jainism

SR No.: 269690
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Paul Dundas
Publisher: Paul Dundas
Total Pages: 29
Language: English
Classification: Article
File Size: 4 MB

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PAUL DUNDAS
49 Prabhāvakacarita, ed. Jinavijaya, Simghi Jain Granthamala Vol. 10, Ahmedabad/Calcutta, 1940, pp. 161-66. 30 Vrddhācāryaprabandhāvali, in Kharataragaccha-Brhadgurvāvali, p. 90 and Kharataragacchapattavalīsamgraha, ed. Jinavijaya, Calcutta, 1932, pp. 23 and 45. $1 Ed. Jinavijaya, Simghi Jain Granthamala Vol. 2, Calcutta, 1936, pp. 95-6. Cf. also Merutunga's Prabandhacintamani, trans. Charles Tawney, Calcutta Asiatic Society, 1901, p. 133, for a very brief account of the story put in the context of the biography of the alchemist Nagarjuna. 52 The translation in clumsy but intended to convey that Abhayadeva was not staying in a temple, which would otherwise mean he was a lax caityavāsin monk. 53 For Kotyācārya and his possible identification with śīlanka, see Balbir, AvasyakaStudien, p. 78. 54 The standard enumeration would normally list twelve angas but Jain tradition accepts that the Drstivāda disappeared some time before the fifth century C.E. 55 This involves the exclusive consumption of sour, unappetising food. 36 For the words tāla and kuncikā, see Oskar von Hinüber, Sprachentwicklung und Kulturgeschichte: Ein Beitrag zur materiellen Kultur des buddhistischen Klosterlebens, Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur, Mainz: Franz Steiner, 1992, pp. 16-17.
Although not directly relevant to this paper, the conclusion of Prabhacandra's version exemplifies a theme found elsewhere in medieval Svetambara hagiography, namely the subordination of learning to the requirements of devotion. 38 Cf. in the same context in the Vrddhācāryaprabandhāvali the Prakrit expression "suttassa kukkadio chodanattham." I assume that the Prabhāvakacarita text must be emended to "navasūtra-" and that Abhayadeva is being asked to solve or remove the "kukkūtikā" affecting the nine sutras on which there were no commentaries available. At present, I am uncertain as to the precise significance of kukkutikā/kukkadi. Ratnachandra, An Illustrated Ardhamagadhi Dictionary, Bombay, 1923, s.v. kukkudi, gives the meanings "deceit, fraud". Cf. W. B. Bollée, Materials for an Edition and Study of the Pinda- and Oha-Nijjuttis of the Svetāmbara Jain Tradition, Volume II: Text and Glossary, Beiträge zur Südasienforschung, Südasien-Institut, Universität Heidelberg, Vol. 162, Stuttgart: Franz Steiner, 1994, p. 180, who glosses the word as kukkuti. Muni Jambūvijaya (personal communication, Palitana, September 1994) has tentatively suggested a connection with kūta, "defective", referring specifically to the Gujarati introduction to Namdisuttam and Anuogaddārāim, ed. Muni Punyavijaya, Jaina Agama Series Vol. 1, Bombay: Sri Mahavīra Jain Vidyalaya, 1968, p. 16, note 2, where Abhayadeva is quoted as referring to the difficulties of commenting on the Praśnavyākarana Sūtra owing to the corrupt manuscripts of the text (prāyo 'sya kūtāni ca pustakāni).
It is conceivable that the forms kukkūtika/kukkadi may have resulted from some sort of confusion between kūta and ku-krta, "badly done" or the abstract kaukrtya. However, it is noteworthy that the expression "sūtrakukkūtika" also occurs in Abhayadeva's commentary on Haribhadra's Pañcāsaka, Bombay: Nirnayasagar, 1912, 8.22, pp. 143-4, in the context of a description of the ritual for image-installation, where it seems to refer to the four threads hanging down from an auspicious parasol (subhapurnacatracatustantukāvaststāh purnam sūtrakukkūţikāpüritam yac catram tarkus tasya sambandhi yac catustantukam tantukacatuştayam tat tathā). However, there is no suggestion here that the threads (sūtra) are entangled which might have facilitated taking the Prabhāvakacarita reference as some sort of pun, e.g., "the thread-like entanglements affecting understanding of the sūtras". - 59 Yugapradhānācāryagurvāvali, p. 4, translated by Phyllis Granoff, The Clever Adulteress and Other Stories: A Treasury of Jain Literature, Oakville/New York/London: Mosaic Press, 1990, p. 177. Jinapala makes a further sectarian point by describing