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HARIBHADRA'S AGE, LIFE AND WORKS
BY Dr. HERMANN JACOBI
1. Haribhadra's Age. The death of Haribhadra, the author of the Samarāicca-Kahā, is placed by Jaina tradition, which in this particular can be traced to the beginning of the 13th century A. D., in Vikrama samvat 585 or Vira samvat 1055, corresponding to 529 A. D. This date, however, was recognised to be wrong, since Haribhadra was acquainted with the philosophy of Dharmakirti wlio flourished about 650 A. D. The discussion at that time turned on the following point. Siddharsi who finished the Upamitibhava prapanca Katha on the 1st May, 906 A, D., calls, in the Pras'asti of that work, Haribhadra his dharmabodhakaro gurun. Now the question arose whether Haribhadra was actually Siddharsi's teacher of the Sacred Law, or his Parampurāguru; in this investigation I took what eventually turned out the wrong side of the question. Meanwhile the Jainas had been publishing a number of Haribhadra's works which were found to contain many interesting details. But the evidence that finally settled the question of Haribhadra's age, was not furnished by any of his own works, but by the Kuvalayamālā, a Prākrit poem by Uddyotana, which he finished on the last day but one of the S'aka year 700,- equal to the 21st March, 779 A. D. In the Pras'asti of
1 At the end of an old Ms. in Jesalmer of Haribhadra's Laghukşetrasamäsavștti tho
date of the completion of this work is given in two versos as Vikrama 585, Jyestha su-di 5, Friday, Puşya nakșatra; this corresponds to either Tuesday, 9th May 528 A.D., or Saturday, 28th April 529 A.D. In the first case the nakşatra was Puşya, in the second Panarvasu. As the week-day comes out wrong in both cases, the date must be considered spurious. The naksatra carries loss weight, because for every day of the lunar year the choice generally lies between three nakßatras only
which may be ascertained beforehand. 2 See my edition of the Upamitibhavaprapafică Kathā (Bibl. Ind) preface p. vil f. 3 L. c. p. VI. 4 A full statement of all particulars about Haribhadra's works, their commentators and
the latters' dates is furnished by Mani Kalyāņavijaya in the preface (granthckaraparicaya) to his edition of Haribhadra's Dharmasamgrahiņi, Devendra Lalbhal's
Jainapustakoddhåra No. 42, Bombay, 1918. 5 alget fata Beqafi i, e. Caitra ba-di 14. This date is interesting from the point
of view of the calendar. As the Caitrādi-yoor invariably begins with the Suklapaksa of Caitra, the date in question would seem to be recorded according to the pūrnimänta scheme in which the dark fortnight precedes the bright one. But as Kielhorn (Ind. Ant. 1896 p. 271 f) has shown from dates in inscriptions that in connection with Saka years almost always amanta months are used, the primă faciē interpretation of our date becomes extremely doubtful. In the year under consideration however there was an adhika Caitra which precedes the nija month; therefore in this case adhika Caitra ba-di 14 is the last day but one of the preceding year, if the year began with nija Caitra, as it ought to do, since the new moon initiating true Caitra immediately preceded by Mesasamkranti. I, therefore, believe that Swamikannu Pillai's assertion (Indian Ephemeris Vol. I, part I, p. 65), "when there is an adhika Caitra that begins the your", applies only to modern usage.
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