Nav Smarana

Author(s): Vinod Kapashi
Publisher: Vinod Kapashi

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I tend to think that the tradition of passing information verbally from generation to generation is reliable in one respect, viz. the authorship of the stotra but not the dating of the composition. Therefore I would tend to agree with the statement that the Kalvän Mandir is composed by Siddhasena Diwäkar, whose name was also Kumudchandra, as has been mentioned in the last verse. But as regards his dates he may not have existed as early as the first century AD but may have been existed a few centuries after that. Prof. Hermann Jacobi' puts him after Mäntunga Soori, the poet of the Bhaktämara Stotra, and therefore he states that the Kalyan Mandir has been composed in imitation of the Bhaktamara Stotra.
Coming to other aspects of Siddhasena: His name is also famous as the scholar who disagreed with many minor points in Jain philosophy, but then he had his own ideology and the extraordinary power of convincing others with logical explanations. He was always frank and honest in his opinions. This also led to his unpopularity. He once said that all Jain scriptures should be translated into the Sanskrit language as Sanskrit was widely used during that time and that Präkrit was almost dead. However, the orthodox Jain Sangha did not like his idea and asked him to repent and accept a punishment for thinking this way. Siddhasena was astonished by this reaction but accepted the punishment imposed upon him. It is said that he was made 'outcast' from the Jain Sangha for twelve years for making such a statement. Thus he could not translate the scriptures into Sanskrit but most of his own works are composed in the Sanskrit language, and shows his scholarly command of the language as well as his deep knowledge of Jain, Buddhist and Hindu scriptures
The Prabhävak Charitra mentions that after Siddhasena's death, it seemed as if the sun was set and only the twinkling lights of the fire-insects remained in the southern sky.
Coming to our subject matter, the Kalyan Mandir Stotra, there is no doubt that it is a scholarly masterpiece and contains verses which have been composed by a great poet. However the Kalyan Mandir Stotra is not as famous as the Bhaktämara Stotra. Though both stotras are included in the group of nine auspicious recitations, the Bhaktämara is the one, which is highly popular, and more people have attempted to remember the Bhaktämara Stotra rather than the Kalyan Mandir Stotra. One can find only a handful of people who can remember and recite the Kalyan Mandir Stotra, whereas there are hundreds of Jains who know the Bhaktämara Stotra by heart and recite it regularly.
Both the Bhaktämara and the Kalyan Mandir have been composed in a meter called Vasant-tilakä therefore both can be sung with equal ease. The reasons as to why the Kalyan Mandir is not so popular are perhaps as follows:
(1) The language of the Kalyan Mandir is much more complex than that of the Bhaktämara Stotra giving some difficulties in pronunciation. (2) There are two more stotras of Pärshvanätha (twenty-third Tirthankara) like the Uvasaggaharam Stotra and the Namiuna Stotra in the list of nine auspicious recitations. Whereas there is no other stotra in praise of the first Tirthankara
Foreword written in Hiralla Kapadia's book Bhaktamara, Kalyan Mandir. Published 1928 Sfuranti Vdikhdhyotah samprate dakshinapathe, noonamastamgate vadi siddhaseno DiwakarahPrabhavak Charitra.
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