Bruhat Katha kosha

Author(s): Harishen Acharya,
Publisher: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

Page 84

INTRODUCTION
53
one Sarvagupta is casually referred to by Sakațāyana in his Sanskrit grammar (1-3-140); but mere common names are not enough to establish identity between two authors. I am not aware of any epigraphic reference to Sivārya. There is not the least doubt that he is mentioned by Jinasena in his Adipuräņa (i. 49) and by Sricandra in his Kathäkośa (noted below) as Sivakoţi. The Sravaņa Belgo! inscription, No. 105, dated 1398 A. D., mentions one Sivakoti who was a pupil of Samantabhadra' and who ornamented (perhaps with a commentary) the Tattvārthasūtra. It is about this Sivakoți a story is already narrated in the Kathākośa of Prabhācandra that he was originally a Saiva king of Benares, was converted to Jainism by seeing a miraculous transformation of Sivalinga into the image of Candraprabha, and became a Jaina monk. As a Jaina monk, the story concludes, Sivakoti mastered the whole range of scriptural knowledge, summarised for the benefit of less intelligent and shortlived people the Arādhanā of Lohācārya, containing 84 thousand verses, into a smaller compass, and composed Mülārādhanā, containing 2500 verses and divided into forty topics such as arha, linga etc. According to Prabhācandra, Sivakoti is identical with Sivärya, he is converted to Jaina faith by Samantabhadra, and he composed Mülārādhanā as a digest of the bigger Arādhanā of Lohācārya : these are extremely interesting bits of information, but we do not know their earlier source. As Prabhācandra's information is not confirmed by the present text of the Bhagavatī Arādhanā which at the most admits that it is based on earlier works and as Aparājitasuri also is completely silent on these points, we cannot take it at the value of contemporary evidence and use it for chronological purpose. We have to wait for still earlier sources. Sivakoti's commentary on the Tattvārthasūtra has not come to light as yet. The Ratnamala® is a small didactic text containing 67 anuştubh verses in Sanskrit and dealing mainly with the duties of a Taina house-holder. The colophon of the printed text attributes it to Sivakoti, the pupil of Samantabhadra, and the concluding verse indirectly mentions Sivakoti. One Bhattāraka Siddhasena is mentioned (No. 3) earlier than Samantabhadra who is solicited for grace (No. 4); the contents breathe a modern spirit of later age and do not maintain the high ascetic standard of the Mülārädhanā; and lastly it contains a verse (No. 65) closely agreeing with one from the Yaśastilakacampū (part ii, p. 373): these facts, taken together, do not induce one to attribute this work to the author of the Bhagavati Ārādhanā.
1 According to Hastimalla's remark in his Vikrantakaurava, Samanta bhadra had
two pupils, Sivakoți and śivāyana. 2 As the text is not printed, I would quote here the relevant extract: rohet
दृष्ट्वा शिवकोटिमहाराजस्य अन्येषां च तत्रत्यलोकानां जैनदर्शने महती श्रद्धा । परमविवेकसंपन्नः चारित्रमोहक्षयोपशमविशेषवशाच परमवैराग्यसंपत्तौ राज्यं परित्यज्य तपो गृहीत्वा सकलश्रुतमबगाह्य लोहाचार्यविरचितां चतुरशीतिसहस्रसंख्यामाराधनां मन्दमत्यल्पायुःप्राण्याशयवशाद् ग्रन्थतः संक्षिप्य अर्थतोऽहें लिङ्गे इत्यादिचत्वारिंशत्सूत्रैः परिपर्णामर्धतृतीयसहस्रसंख्यां मूलाराधनां कृतवानिति । It is printed in the Mänikachandra D. Jaina Granthamālā, No. 21, Bombay Samvat 1979.