Gandharavada

Author(s): Esther A Solomon
Publisher: Gujarat Vidyasabha

Page 18

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sacred lore) honoured him highly and he was a great scholar of other śāstras also. He was highly learned in Palaeography, Mathematics, Prosody and Grammar. He was also wellversed in the scriptures of other schools. He was very earnest about the practice of the code of conduct laid down for monks and was at the head of all the Jain: monks...... No further information is available except that he saved the Mahanišitha sūtra which was eaten up by white ants.* Some Jaina icons were recently discovered in Akotā (earlier Ankottaka). Prof. Umakant Shah believes that these icons belong to about 550-600 A.D, and he has come to the conclusion that the Jinabhadra mentioned in the inscription found on two of these icons is no other than Jinabbadra, the author of the Višeşā vaśyaka-bhāşya, who must have installed these icons. The inscriptions found are 'Aum devadharmo'yam nivstikule Jinabhadra-Vācapācāryasya' and 'Auin nivștikule JinabhadraVacanācāryasya' from which it can be inferred that Jinabhadra belonged to the Nivști family and was called Vācanācārya. I
The following works are ascribed to Jinabhadra :(i) Višesā vaśyaka Bhāsya-Prakrit verse. (ii) Viseşā vaśyaka Bhāşya Vștti--author's own commentary
(Sanskrit prose), (iii) Bșhat-sangrabani-Prakrit verse, (iv) Břbat-ks-trasamāja—Prakrit verse, (v) Višeşaņavati-Prakrit verse, (vi) Jītakalpasūtra-Prakrit verse, (vii) Jitakalposūtrabhāsya--- Prakrit verse, (viii) Dhyana-śataka
Prakrit verse.
Bịhatsangrahaņi deals with human beings and hellish beings and geography and astronomy. In fact it gives us at a glance the relevant views regarding soul and world. Brhatkşetra-samāsa is like a geograpby of the universe. In the
* See Vividha Tirtha Kalpa (Mathurä-kalpa) (p 19) of Jinaprabha. This shows that Jinabhadra had also gone to Mathurā besides being associated with Valabbi.
See Jaina Satyaprakāśa, No. 196. G-2