Kavyanushasana Critical Study

Author(s): A N Upadhye
Publisher: A N Upadhye

Page 48

future obstacles are removed beforehand. Acording to the Jaina Philosophy of Karma, various Avaraṇas such as the Jñānāvaraṇa, Darśanavaraṇa, etc., are created by the different Karmas such as Jñanavaraṇly akarma, etc., and they cumulatively create obstructions for the soul by tainting its pure nature. It is only when these obstacles are either totally destroyed or removed before their rise that the soul regains its pristine glow or purity. To bring out the sense of this Sūtra (No. 5), Hemachandra explains the abstract idea of the purity of the Sahaja Pratibha on the analogy of the Sun, the clouds and the clear light of the Sun. When clouds etc. obstruct the light of the Sun, which is a self-luminous celestial body, it cannot shine; when, however, the obstacles such as clouds and the like are removed, the Sun, once again, shines in its natural lustre; much in the same way, when obstacles such as Jñānāvaraṇa are totally destroyed and when no further possibility of any impediment being there exists, the in-born genius of a man shines out in its innate lustre. No outside aid is required to produce such a genius. 'Matra' in the Sutra serves to suggest that no external causes such as charms and incantations are needed for the birth of the natural talent in a poet. To illustrate the extraordinary power of the in-born genius, Hemachandra mentions the case of the disciples of Lord Mahavira, the Gaṇadharas who, through the immense power of their natural genius, composed the Dvadaśāngi, the twelve sacred scriptures of Jainism.
The second division of Genius is the artificial or conditional talent called Aupadhiki Pratibha which is produced by means of (muttering) the mystic incantations and such other aids. It must be noted that Kṣaya and Upasama of the Avaraṇas are equally necessary in bringing about the artificial genius, as Hemachandra clearly points out in the gloss. But the difference, which is emphasized in the gloss, is that, while in the Sahajā variety of Pratibha, the Kṣaya and Upaśama
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