Dhyanastav

Author(s): Bhaskarnandi, Suzuko Ohira
Publisher: Bharatiya Gyanpith

Page 9

INTRODUCTION
The Dhyanastava is a poem of one hundred stanzas, composed by Bhaskara nandi for the sake of his own concentration of mind. In its form it is a prayer addressed to Jina-Deva. It has hundred verses like the Jhāṇajjhayaṇa Dhyanaśataka in Prakrit (attributed to Jinabhadra) which has been well-known in the South (being quoted in Dhavala) and to which it is indebted. It is based on his other work called Tattvärthavṛtti, a commentary on Umāsvāmi's Tattvārthadhigamasutra, of which there are, according to Jinaratnakośa, nearly forty commentaries. In this introduction, I would like to give a short outline of this poem first, then, while discussing the relation between Tattvarthavṛtti and Dhyanastava, I would like to bring up the problem of our "so little known" author, who probably flourished in the early 12th century.
The Dhyanastava, here presented in translation, is based on the palm leaf MS. No. 755 in Moodbidri. It was transcribed from Kannada script into Devanagari by Śrī B. Devakumar Jain, which was arranged for me by Dr. A. N. Upadhye, without whom this small piece of translation, which was also made under his guidance, could not have been possible, and to whom goes my humblest gratitude. I restricted myself to verifying the date of our author. My deficiency in knowledge might have made