Note on Hemchandras Abhidhanchintamani and Sanskrit Karmavati

Author(s): Nalini Balbir
Publisher: ZZ_Anusandhan

Page 5

फेब्रुआरी २०११
१७१
early Jaina history are present in this first section as well: the nine ganas and eleven gaṇadharas, the last kevalin the six śrutakevalins and the daśapūrvins.
In the subsequent sections, other key concepts and categories typical of the Jaina worldview are given a prominent place. Section II Devakāņda (4ff.) deals with the world of gods, in a typically Jaina fashion, listing the traditional groups of deities, even though it also provides the names of Brahma, Siva and Visņu. The structure of Section IV Tiryakkāņda corresponds to the traditional Jaina classification of life based on the number of sense organs, in increasing order, and the environment where these beings live. Section IV unfolds in agreement with the introductory statements of Section I:
(narās tịtiye) tiryañcas turye ekendriyādayaḥ // 20 ekendriyāḥ prthivy-ambu-tejo-vāyu-mahiruhaḥ krmi-pilakao-lūtādyāḥ syur dvi-tri-catur-indriyāḥ//2 pañcendriyāś cebha-keki-matsyādyāḥ sthala-khāmbugāḥ (pañcendriyā eva devā narā nairaiyikā api) //22
“The earth, water, fire, air, and [plants] have a single organ or sense; worms, ants, spiders, and the like, have two, three, or four senses; elephants, peacocks, fish, and other beings moving on the earth, in the sky or in water, are furnished with five senses: (and so are gods and men, and the inhabitants of hell)??
6. Pilaka: a rare form against the usual pipilika. 7. Compare Trisasti. I.1.160-168 (with different words) where this exposition takes place in the discussion of abhayadāna. Another occasion when Hemacandra deals with the classification of living beings is the exposition of the four gatis. His purpose is then to describe the torments awaiting all those born in the tiryaggati. cf. Trisasți. III. 4.100-126. 8. Colebrooke's translation in “Observations", p. 302. 9. Hemacandra's Nighanțušesa, a botanical vocabulary, is a supplement to this section of the AC.