Mahavidya Vidambanam

Author(s): Bhatta Vadindra, Bhuvansundarsuri, Mangesh Ramkrishna Telang
Publisher: Central Library

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sundara and Sádhuratna. Jnánaságara (A.D. 1349–1404) became the 51st head of the Tapágachha sect and Somasundara succeeded him as the 52nd head in A.D. 1404. Somasundara had five pupils, Munisundara,' Jayachandra, Bhuvanasundara, Jinasundara, and Jinakirti. Now Bhuvanasundara being a pupil of Somasundara may be considered to have been younger than his preceptor by 25 years. And thus we can fix the approximate date of Bhuvanasundara as A.D. 1399 to 1460.
Munisundara who was a co-student with Bhuvanasundara has praised him in the following Arya in his Gurvávali:
श्रीभुवनसुन्दरा अपि वाचकवर्या न कस्य हर्षाय । सत्यपि येषां वाणी प्रतिचतुरं लीयते हृदये ॥ २३ ॥
Taigs g. 8W ( raft) Bhuvanasundara's Works--As regards Bhuvanasundara's works, three of them have been published in this volume. They are:-1 Mahavidya-vidambana-Vyákhyána, (pages 1 to 150), 2 Laghu-mahavidya-vidambana, a very brief refutation of Mahavidya syllogismis in imitation of Vádindra (pages 152 and 153), and 3 Mahavidya-vivarana-tippana (pages 157 to 189). A work of the name of (4) Parabramhotthápana-sthala is mentiond in a Gujarati work entitled Jaina-granthávali (which is a list prepared from a number of catalogues belonging to Jain Bhándárs) as being written by Bhuvansundara. But as the book is not available, nothing, can be said about it. One of his pupils Ratnasekhara, in his Srávakapratikramanasůtra-tîka (A.D. 1440), mentions one more work of his called (5) Vyákhyána-dîpiká.
Mahavidya-vivarana- Lastly we come to the author of the Mahavidyavivarana which is a short commentary on the 10 verses of the Mahavidyasûtra. The author has not mentioned his name either in the introductory or concluding verses. Nor is it mentioned in the colophon which is “fat werfanfaarui
A l". It seems that even Bhuvanasundara did not know the author's name as he does not mention it in the Tippana. If he was aware of it he would have stated it in the introduction as he has done in the case of Vadîndra in his commentary on the Mahavidya-vidambana. Thus there is 110 means to ascertain the name of the author of Mahavidya-vivarana. From the puport of the Mangala verse at the commencement of the Vivarana, he seems to have been a Vedantin,4 although well versed in Nyáya. For the
1 He is the author of Gurvávali, a poem in praise of some of the Gurus or Head preceptors of the Ta págachha in sucession. The book is published in the Jaina-Yashovijaya series at Benares.
2 तेषां विनयवृषभा भाग्यभुवोभुवनसुंदरावार्याः । व्याख्यानदीपिकाद्यैर्ग्रथैर्ये निजयशोऽप्रथ्नन ॥ 3 ggfaalfaatur 9.90€ 4 श्रुतिमयतनु केचित्केचिदानन्दरूपं विगलिततनु केचित्केचिदच्छस्वरूपम् ।
अभिदधति यदेकं तन्नमामीह जन्मस्थितिलयपरितापारम्भहीनं स्वरूपम् ॥१॥महाविद्याविवरण पृ.१५७
Aho ! Shrutgyanam