________________
JAIN JOURNAL : Vol-XXXI, No. 1. July 1996
Brahmanical sources is now somewhat acknoledged, such is not the case with the Buddhist, and certainly not the Jaina contributions to the subject of polity." "To the student of government theory", says Beni Prasad, "the (Jaina) Sūtras as a whole are rather disappointing". But, to our pleasant surprise, he adds, "There is, however, one Jaina work in Sutra form which deserves detailed notice". 12 It is this work, Nitivākyāmstamor nectar of Political Sayings, which is subject of our paper and presentation today.
In his "Introduction"13 to Sudhir Kumar Gupta's translation of Somadeva's Nitivakyāmrtam, 14 Dr. V. R. Mehta, Director of Prakrit Bharati Academy, Jaipur, provides a good deal of information about the work but relatively little about the author, except that he (Somadeva) is also the author of a major literary work called Yasastilaka.
However, from other sources15 we can discern that Somadeva was not only the writer of Nitiväkyāmrtam 6 and Yaśastilaka!? but also of such other works as (some extant and others lost or still buried in some bhandhars) : Sannavati Prakarana, Yukticintämanisūtra, 18 Trivarga-mahendra-matalisankalpa,'' Sindura-prakarah,20 Adhyatam Tirangini' and Siddhiprada.22 11. cf. G.P. Singh, Early Indian Historical Tradition, New Delhi, 1984, p.22. 12. Beni Prasad, op.cit., p. 229. 13. Somadeva Süri's Nitivākyāmstam (10th century Sanskrit Treatise on
Statecarft). Original Text with Hindi and English translation. Translated by
Sudhir Kumar Gupta. Prakrit Bharati Academy. Jaipur, 1987, pp. 9-24. 14. It is the most recent translation of this tenth century Sanskrit text, and all
quotations cited in this paper come from this edition unless otherwise noted. 15. R.N. Saletore, Encyclopaedia of Indian Culture (-ETC). New Delhi, 1985,
Vol. 4, pp. 1368-70. 16. Nitiväkyämstam was first published in the Bombay Granthamälä Series (1887);
and then by Pandit Pannalal Soni, but edited by Nathuram Premi, Bombay,
1923 (cf. Saletore, Ancient Indian Political Theory, London, 1963, p. 634, n. 167). 17. Yasastilaka was published in the Bombay Kävyamālā, No. 70, 1901. It
contains the commentary of Śrutasāgara (ibid.). 18. It is recorded as 'Yukticintāmanistava' (cf. Descriptive catalogue of Mss in
the Jain Bhandara at Pattan, I, p. 31, vide Saletore, EIC, 1985, p. 1368). 19. cf. Jain Sahitya ka Brhad Itihas, 1969, pp. 239-40: This work, "being a
dialogue between Indra and his charioteer Matali on dharma, artha, and kama, refers to politics" (Saletore, Ancient Indian Political Thought
and Institutions (-AIPTI), London, 1963, p. 337). 20. 1975, vide World Catalogue, online search, June 1994. 21. Sadhavi Sanghamitra, Jainadharma ke Prabhavak Acharya, Jain Vishva
Bharati Prakashan, 1976, pp. 281-284p @ p. 281. 22. Acharya Somadeva krta Rasendrachudamanih: "Siddhiprada'. Hindi vyaka
sahitiya. 1 samskarana. Varansi: Chowkhamba Oriyantaliya, 1984 (LOCI, online search).
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
