________________
VIII
INTRODUCTION
Bhadrabahusvāmin, the last sakalas'rutajñānin had written a niryukti on Suryaprajñapti; but it is unfortunately extinct. This niryukti has been referred to by Malayagiri Sūri in his commentary to Suryaprajñapti in the opening lines. Furthermore, a few lines from this work are quoted therein (vide com. to the 11th sutra) by this well-known commentator, who has composed in Sanskrit, a commentary on Candraprajñapti as
well.
Bhadrabahusamhita may be also mentioned in this connection, though this work of which the authorship is attributed to Bhadrabahu, the celebrated niryuktikāra, is said to be more of an astrological nature than astronomical. It is no more available.1
In Bhattopala's commentary to Bṛhatsamhita, a standard work of Varahamihira (505 A. D.), one Bhadrabahu is referred to; but we cannot say for certain as to who he is.
Dr. G. Thibaut has written a paper on Suryaprajñapti. There he says that this work must have been composed before "the Greeks came to India, as there is no trace of Greek influence in it.3 In conclusion he points out the striking resemblances which the cosmological conceptions of an old Chinese work called Chau-pei bear to the ideas on the same subject as expounded in this Suryaprajñapti.
Prof. Aufrecht Weber points out that the doctrine propounded in Suryaprajñapti shows in many points an unmistakable resemblance with the contents of Jyotiṣavedänga. He adds that not only do the astronomical works of the Jainas furnish information about the conceptions of a religious sect but may, if rightly investigated, yield valuable material for the general history of Indian ideas.5
1. There is a work of the same name available. It is published in the Punjab Sanskrit Book Series, but its genuineness is not beyond doubt.
2. Vide "Astronomie, Astrologie und Mathematik" published in "Grundriss der Indo-Arishen Philologie und Altertumskunde" (Encyclopædia of IndoAryan Research), vol. III, No. 9, p. 20. See also J. A. S. B. 1880, No. 3.
3. The approximate date of its composition is suggested as 500 B. C.
4. A complete translation of this work has been published by E. Biot in the Journal Asiatique, 1841, pp. 592-639.
5. See "Sacred literature of the Jainas" I, p. 372 and II, p. 574 ff. For English translation by Dr. Herbert Woir Smith see Indian Antiquary (vol. XXI, p. 14 ff.).
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
