Devindatthao Devendrastava

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

Page 31

X X X: DEVENDRASTAVA
Vīrabhadra as the author of this Prakīrņaka,' they have given no proof in support of their contention. Perhaps, Dr. Jagadeesha Chandra Jain was carried away by the fame of Vīrabhadra as the author of many a Prakīrņaka such as Causarana. Āurapaccakkhā na, Bhattapaiņņā, Ārādhanāpatākā etc and thought that he was the author of this Prakīrņaka as well and mentioned it as such without any verification and even without going through the concluding verses of this work. As Devendramuniji has based his work on the histories of Prāketa literature by Dr. Jagadeesh Chandra Jain and Dr, Nemichandra Jain, he, too, mentioned it as such without due verification from the original text. It was, therefore, natural that he, too, fell pray to the same error of judgement. Although Dr. Mohanlal Mehta in his “Jaina Sāhitya Kā Vrhad Itihāsa' published by Parshvanatha Vidyashram, Varanasi and Acārya Vijaya Padmasūri in his “Jaina Pravacana Kiraṇāvali have dwelled at some length on the subject matter of this work, they have also made no effort to throw any light on the issue of its authorship.? It therefore rests upon us to give a serious thought to the issue of Devendrastava's authorship.
From the mention of Devendrastava in the Nandīsūtra and the Mülācāra it is clear that this work had come onto being in the 5th Century AD. Also, it is clear that its author cannot be Vīrabhadra, who, according to a brief note in the beginning of Painnayasuttāim by Canon-learned Muni Sri Punyavijayajī, his time was 1008 or 1078 VikramīEra. Again, as there is no mention
A. Prākrta Sāhitya Kā Itihāsa, Dr. Jagadeesha Chandra Jain, p. 128. B. Jaina Agama Sāhitya : Manana Aur Mīmámsā, Devendramuni
Shastri, p. 400. 2. A. Jaina Sāhitya Ka Vrhad Itihāsa Pt. II, Dr. Mohanlal Mehta, p.
360.
B. Śrī Jaina Pravacan Kiraṇāvalī, Vijaya Padmasūri, p. 433. 3 Preface to Paiņņayasuttāim, Muni Punyavijayajī, p. 19.