Jain Legend Vol 3

Author(s): Hastimal Maharaj, Shuganchand Jain, P S Surana
Publisher: Hastimal Maharaj Shugan C Jain P S Surana

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Composer of Niryuktis, Niryuktik ra c rya Bhadra B hu - II
He was a contemporary of 28th pontiff c rya V ra Bhadra and 29th epochal- c rya H rila. crya Bhadra B hu was a great scholar and authored several important Jain holy texts during V.N.1000-1045. He was thus considered a distinguished scholar and writer of the niryuktis.
The name of c rya Bhadra B hu - II stands out in the first row amongst the authors and composers of niryuktis available today. He wrote niryuktis on va yaka, Da avaik lika s tra, Uttar dhyayana s tra,
cr mga, S trak t mga, Da ruta skamdha, Kalpa s tra, Vyavah ra, S rya Praj apti and ibh ita.
He did yeoman service to Jainism by crisply expressing the deep rooted intent and meaning of the contents of these s tras. Actually he was like a shining star of Jainism shedding light on Jain doctrine and literature.
Due to similarity of names prevailing for many centuries, some scholars have been professing that the writer composer of niryuktis was last
rutakeval Bhadra B hu. However research scholars have established by producing not just one or two but many proofs that crya Bhadra B huII who existed some 875 years after rutakeval Bhadra B hu, is in fact the author composer of niryuktis on these ten s tras
Based on available historical facts, we can infer safely that the facts concerning Bhadra B hu II given below as valid.
Around the last part of V.N. 8h century, two Brahmin brothers, Bhadra B hu and Var ha Mihira used to live in Prati h napura town of Maharashtra. Both these brothers were very intelligent and scholarly but they hailed from a very poor family and thus had almost no support for their survival.
Both the brothers had the good fortune to listen to the sermons of a scholar Jain c rya. On hearing his sermons, their minds were filled with feeling of detachment and quest for truth. So both the brothers initiation in Jain monkhood by the c rya. They started studying Jain scriptures. Monk Bhadra B hu studied the scriptures very diligently. Soon he was considered amongst the top Jain scholars. On the other
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