Nayakumarchariu

Author(s): Pushpadant, Hiralal Jain
Publisher: Balatkaragana Jain Publication Society

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THE POET'S EDUCATION
17. An ancient prakṛta work of unknown date, Nivväṇa-kända, mentions Nagakumāra as a great sage who, along with his two associates Vyala and Mahāvyāla attained salvation from the Ashtapada mountain (pub. Bombay 1914). नायकुमारमुणिंदो वालमहावाल चेव अज्झेया । अट्टावयगिरिसिहरे णिव्वाण गया णमो तेसिं ॥ १५ ॥
18. An Apabhramsa work Savayadhammadoha mentions Nagadatta as having attained heaven by the observance of a fast and subsequently reborn as Nagakumāra
उववासहु इक्कहु फलई संबोहियपरिवारु ।
यदत्तु दिवि देउ हुउ पुणरवि णायकुमारु ॥ १११ ॥
The above list can not be claimed to be exhaustive, but it is sufficient to show how popular the story of Nagakumāra has been with Jaina authors from ancient times down almost to the present day. It is probable that some authors utilized the theme prior to Puspadanta, but unless and until their works are discovered and their date is determined, the present work can claim to be the oldest on the subject.
6. The Poet's Education.
In the introductory part of his Mahapuraṇa, Puspandanta says that he had seen nothing of the works of Akalamka, Kapila, Kanacara, Patañjali, Bhāsa, Vyasa, Kalidasa, Svayambhu, Sri Harsa, Bana, Rudrata, Nyasakāra, Piñgala and many others. But he has completely belied himself in his works. I shall here confine my remarks to the present work alone to show that its author was familiar not only with the Hindu, Buddhist and Jaina religion, philosophy and mythology but also with all those technical branches of literature, a knowledge of which formed a necessary part of the equipment of an accomplished poet in ancient India.
As might be expected, the poet shows a thorough grasp of the tenets of the Jaina faith to which he turns frequently but which he has particularly mentioned once (I, 12) and expounded twice (IV, 2-4; IX, 12-14). On these sections of the work, the reader will find in the notes numerous references to the works of Kundakundācārya, Umasvami, Samantabhadra and Vaṭṭakera, some of the most ancient Digambara Jaina writers, showing that our poet was well read in them. Once (IX, 5,5) we find mention of the two questions, namely wearing cloth and eating food during the stage of omniscience, round which ranges a long controversy between the two sections of the Jain community the Digambaras and the Svetambaras. Various dectrines and beliefs of the Hindu and the Buddhist religions have been mentioned and commented upon in seven passages (5 to 11) of chapter nine. Systems of philosophies such as Samkhya, Mimamsa, Kṣaṇikavāda, Śūnyavāda, and Isvaravada and some of their founders Kapila, Akṣapida, Kanacara and Sugata are named. Even the materialist school of Bṛhaspati has not been overlooked (IX,11).
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