Book Title: ISJS Jainism Study Notes E5 Vol 04
Author(s): International School for Jain Studies
Publisher: International School for Jain Studies
View full book text
________________
1.5
Influential Jaina cryas Dr. Kamal Chand Sogani
1.0 Introduction
The purpose of dealing with the above topic is to acquaint you with the prominent, Influential Jaina c ryas who contributed to logic, ethics metaphysic and spiritualism (mysticism) as propounded by Jaina Thinkers. It is not a detailed treatment of the topic but only a simple presentation of some of the great c ryas of Jaina Philosophy. I have not taken into account the contemporary c ryas. We propose to classify the cryas in the following way.
1. Canonical c ryas (gama c ryas)
2. Creative c ryas (Sarjan tmaka c ryas)
1. Canonical c ryas ( gama c ryas):
After the attainment of omniscience (Kevala-jn na) in 557 B.C. at the age of 42, Indrabh ti Gautama and Sudharm Sv mi converted into Jaina canon (gama), the deliverances of Mah vra. The language of the canon is Pr krta.
VERSAC
After two hundred years of the Nirv a (emancipation) of Mah vra (527 B.C.) there was a terrible feminine in Magadha (4th Cent. B.C.) That lasted for twelve years. The result was that the knowledge of the Jaina canon started to suffer losses. Consequently Sth labhadra (4th Century BC) convened a council at P tliputra (Patna) and the canon was fixed to some extent. In spite of the great other councils, the canon was in danger of being lost. Finally the credit of saving the Jaina canon goes to Devarddhi Kṣam rama a (5th cent. A.D). the present canon comes to us because of this great
c rya.
The important names for writing commentaries on the Jaina canon are:
1. Bhadrab hu II 6th cent. A.D. 2. Samghad saga 7th cent. A.D. 3. Jinabhadraga 7th cent. A.D.
4. Jinad sa Mahatara 7th cent. A.D. la ka 9th cent. A.D.
5.
6. Abhayadeva 12th cent. A.D.
In addition to the above canonical c ryas, there is known to us a great c rya, namely, G adhara (1st cent. A.D.) Who wrote Kaş ya P huda (Discussion on attachment and aversion) in 233 verses? Apart from this, Puspadanta and Bhūtabali composed ṣatkha d gama in Pr krta after learning the Jaina doctrines from Dharasen c rya of 1st cent. A. D. The c rya who commented upon some portions of satkha d gama is V rasena and the commentary in known as Dhavl. He also wrote an incomplete commentary on Kaş ya P huda known as Jayadhavl. Here the significant point to be noted is that V rasen c rya by measurement composed 92 thousand lokas. It is something unique in the history of Indian literature.
2. Creative c ryas (Sarjan tmaka c ryas)
2.0 Um sv ti/Um sw mi:
Both the traditions of Jaina Sa gha regard Um sv ti/Um sw mi as a celebrated creative c rya who composed in Sa skṛta S tra style, Tattv rthas tra. It is a compendium of Jaina Philosophy, which includes Epistemology, Metaphysics, Ethics and Spiritualism. The number of S tras in Tattv rthaS tra differs in the two traditions in the following way.
Page 148 of 556
1. Number of S tras commented upon by P jyap da, (6th cent. A.D.), Akala ka (8th cent. A.D.) and Vidy nandi (9th cent. A.D.) are 357.
STUDY NOTES version 4.0
