Agam 33 Prakirnak 10 Viratthao Sutra

Author(s): D S Baya
Publisher: Agam Ahimsa Samta Evam Prakrit Samsthan

Page 27

XXVI : VĪRASTAVA-PRAKĪRNAKA
element of seeking favours from the objects of eulogy, praised through such panegyrics, kept on intruding into the Jaina compositions as well. This happened in spite of the fact that such seeking was inconsistent with the fundamental belief of detachment associated with the Jaina spiritual leadership or the concept of Tīrtharikaratva What can be the position of such eulogistic compositions in the Jaina philosophy has been aptly dealt with by Acārya Samantabhadra in his Svayambhūstotra. There, he writes, “Lord ! thou art beyond attachment and aversion. Thou art, therefore, not pleased by eulogies, nor art thou displeased by condemnation. However, I sing your praise because it purifies my own heart.” 21
In the same vein the belief gained ground that the gods and goddesses attending the Tīrtharkaras are pleased by the worship of the Lords and it is they that grant favours to the devotees. Later, even the worship of such gods and goddesses started and the practice of composing panegyrics in their praise also started. Uvasaggahara is the first Prākrta composition in which the attending deity - Dharanendra is also praised along with the presiding deity - Lord Pärsvanātha.22 This panegyric is believed to be a composition of Bhadrabahu II (Circa 6h century AD), the brother of Varāhamihir, the famous astrologer of yore.
After this, many a eulogistic panegyrics and treatises were composed in Prākrta, Samiskrta and in Maru-Gurjara languages, in which the objects of worship and veneration were prayed to grant mundane as well as spiritual well-being. This discussion, here, is only with a view to bring out the development of eulogistic literature in the Jaina tradition and to see as to how this particular branch of Jaina lore developed and which form did
21 22
Svayambhūstotra, 57. Uvasaggaharastotra, verses 1-5.