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Thus we can conclude that though Haribhadra advocates a lot in favor of women, the issues of i) Āryan and non-Aryan, ii) the arguments of saptama naraka and iii) the negation of dravyasruta - show the philosophical and social limitations to his advocacy.
[3] Gunaratna's Arguments on Man-Woman-Equality
Haribhadra's Sat-darsana-samuccaya possesses an esteemed position among the Darsanasamgrahas. While depicting Jaina views Haribhadra mentions -
बद्धस्य कर्मणः साटो यस्तु सा निर्जरा मता ।
आत्यन्तिको वियोगस्तु देहादिर्मोक्ष उच्यते ।। 22 (Şat-darśana-samuccaya, verse 52)
Gunaratnasūri (later half of the 14th Cen.A.D.) picks up the issues of man-woman
comparison in the context of the above mentioned verse. His long debates is presented in the light of Digambara views. The methodology and expression is totally different from Yāpaniyatantra and Lalita-vistarā.
Gunaratna seems to be totally against the inferior and under-previleged position of womenfolk. He raises questions about the criteria of this position and negates one by one.
After the critical examination of the thirteen points presented by Gunaratna, we can say in nutshell that
The uniqueness in bringing out the points of man-woman-comparison is remarkable. Gunaratna pleads four points viz. observance of vows, nudity, aparigraha and cloths, very successfully. He mentions the mental, moral, intellectual and spiritual capacities of women which are similar to men. Gunaratna accepts the bindings imposed by scriptures about the seventh hell with a meager opposition. He is unable to go beyond the customary practices about the vandaniyatā of a monk. We cannot expect application of the model of social justice from Gunaratna in the field of education and other skills, considering the socio-cultural conditions of the medieval period. The accusation of treachery and deceitfulness is not fought out fully by Gunaratna.
But to sum up, we can say that, the credit goes to Gunaratna to drag out the debate of manwoman-equality from the mokşa-based arguments and to opt fresh outlook like the criteria of superiority and inferiority.
[4] The Debate of Man-Woman-Equality in Darśanavijayaji's Book
In 20" Century (exactly 1943) Muni Darśanavijayaji wrote a book named 'SvetāmbaraDigambara-Samanvaya'. In his book he had treated several issues of the sectarian controversy. Man-Woman-debate is one of the part of his book. Muniji followed a unique methodology. Though he was a Svetāmbara, he studied all important Digambara texts (viz. Satkhandāgama, Kundakunda literature, Gommațasāra etc.) very minutely. All the issues concerned to this debate were put
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