Nyayavatara and Nayakarnika

Author(s): Siddhasena Divakar, Vinayvijay, A N Upadhye
Publisher: Jain Sahitya Vikas Mandal

Page 44

Siddhasena and his Works
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The style of Ps is essentially canonical (āgamika), with very little of logician's touch, while St is basically tūrkika. Divākara applies rationalistic and logical tests in a rigorous manner whatever may be the topic under discussion. The Ps, in the canonical manner, expounds the doctrines and also gives (didactic) sermons: one feels, while attending to it, that one is hearing doctrinal-didactic sermons of a great Nirgrantha in a temple-upāśraya. The St has no sermons: it presents a flowing yet logically rigorous exposition of Jaina principles at the hands of a gifted logician.
Though both Ps and St elucidate Jaina philosophy and dogmatics, the former propounds one sect of Jainism while the latter expounds and systematises Jainism as a whole. The code of morality in Ps has the Digambara school in view while St has no special school in view, but propounds and systematically presents the doctrines of Mahāvīra according to strict logic.
To understand the currents of thought or challenges contemporary with Siddhasena, it is necessary to take into account a number of ancient Buddhist and Vedic texts. Kundakunda, the author of Ps, shows, in a general way, the influence of Sāņkhya, Vaišeșika and Buddhist schools of thought. Divākara shows, in addition to the above, deep and extensive influence of Nyāya, Veda, Upanişads and contemporary schools of thought. And this is obvious from Siddhasena's Sanmati, Dvātrissikās etc. i) But for the difference in language and of the school of thought, both the Sanmati and the Sāmkhya-kārikā of Isvarakļşņa are composed in the same metre and have the same pattern of treatment of their respective schools. ii) Comparing the Buddhistic Madhyamaka-kārikā of Nāgārjuna (of Sūnyavāda) and Vimsikū and Trimśikā of Vasubandhu (of Vijñānavāda) with the works of Divākara mutual influence is necessarily accepted. iii) The study of Vaiśeşika-sūtras and Nyāva-darsana has specially inspired Divākara in composing the Sanmati. Though there is difference of language and form (prose and verse), pure logical approach is common to them.
It appears that Divākara had possibly two objects in composing St.: i) to provoke thoughtfulness and develop understanding on the strength of logic in one's Sampradāya, and ii) to secure respectability for the basic principles of Jainism among the learned of the nonJaina schools. 18