Dravya Sangraha

Author(s): Nemichandra Siddhant Chakravarti, Saratchandra Ghoshal
Publisher: ZZZ Unknown

Page 54

INTRODUCTION.
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that it was finished in the Vikrama year 1608. Manuscripts of the commentary on Svâmi-kâr: kopi-nel and Pandava-Purâņa have been discovered from which we quote the above dates. This Subhachandra seems to be different from an author of the same name who comp - 1 Jõânirnava, etc.
Thus it is clear that the commentator, Brahmadeva, was born several centuries after Nemichandra. Consequently, the statements which he makes about the composition of works by Nemichandra must be read with caution and accepted only when the same are confirmed by other proofs. Keeping this fact in view, we are not inclined to accept, without any further evidence, the statement made by Bralımadeva, namely, that Nemichandra first wrote a small treatise, in twenty-six verses, entitled Laghu-dravyasamgralia, for a merchant named Soma, in the temple of the Tîrthankara Vuni Subrata, in the town Asrama of the ruler Sripala, under the King Bhoja of Dhârâ, in Mâlwa, and that subsequently Nemichandra enlarged the work and named it Vrihad-dravya-samgraha.* We do not find any indication of such a fact in the work itself, and in the last verse, Nemichandra has named his work to be "Davvasamgaha (or Dravya-samgraha and not "Vrilad-drarya-samgraha," as it would have been the case according to the statement of the commentator. Further, the supposition that Nemichandra flourished during the reign of Bhoja of Malwa makes his date later than what has been proved by inscriptions and authorities quoted before. For this reason we do not feel ourselves justified in agreeing with Pandit Javaharlal Såstri in holding that Nemichandra resided for a time in Malwa and then went to other places, especially as there is no certainty as to the Bhoja (for there are several kings of this name) inentioned in the commentary.
+" अथ मालवदेशे धारानामनगराधिपति-राजभाजदेवाभिधानकलिकालचक्रवर्तिसम्बन्धिनः श्रीपालमण्डलेश्वरस्य सम्बन्धिन्याश्रमनामनगरे श्रीमुनिसुव्रततीर्थकरचैत्यालये...सोमाभिधानराजश्रेष्ठिनो निमित्तं श्रीनेमिचन्द्रसिद्धान्तिदेवैः पूर्व षडविंशतिगाथाभिलघुद्रव्यसंग्रहं कृत्वा पश्चाद्विशेषतत्त्वपरिज्ञानार्थ विरचितस्य बृहद्व्यसंग्रहस्याधिकारशुद्धिपूर्वकत्वेन वृत्तिः प्रारभ्यते।"
[Introduction to the commentary by Brahma-deva.] In tho Mss. of Dravyasamgraha-sûtra-Vritti preserved in the Govt. Oriental Mss.. Library, Madras, the name of the merchant given is er instead of er