Nyayavatara and Nayakarnika

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

Page 51

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Siddhasena and his Works
Upanişadic style and terminology; II.23 is marked with Virodhābhāsa in Sāņkhya terms; III.8 shows the preeminence of Mahāvīra by reconciling various kāraṇa-vādas of the Svetāśvatara Upanişad; IV.3 holds up Mahāvīra even above Indra and Sūrya ; IV.7 well puts how Mahāvīra, without any conventional study, has become an Acārya for the whole world; IV.15 rightly compares Mahāvīra with the ocean, a typical basis of Anekānta; IV.26 presents the Jaina concept of Atman through Vibhāvanā and Viseşokti; XI.13 is a typical illustration of the glorification of a brave and victorious monarch.
Some of the utterances of Siddhasena hold him up as the foremost (ādya) Jaina disputant (vādī), philosopher and cyclopaedist of Darsanas. If the Vādopanişad, VII, describes the code of disputation, elsewhere, VIII, he has made a good fun of it. He has well brought out the inherent compatibility between adhyātma and vāda, adept as he was in both. Two dogs, fighting over a piece of flesh, may perhaps become friendly, but never can two disputants be friends (VIII.1). Sreyomārga and Vādamārga are two poles apart (VIII.7).
Siddhasena seems to be the first to present a factual survey of various Indian Darśanas. Haribhadra in his Şaddarsanasamuccaya and Mādhavācārya in his Sarvadarsana-samgraha have developed the same idea. Among the available Dvā.s only Nyāya, Vaišeşika, Sāņkhya, Bauddha, Ājivika and Jaina (in more than one) systems are covered. Any scholar would be struck with wonder at his criticism of traditionalism (purātanatva) and exposition of Vedānta in two chapters. The survey and presentation of details are unique, and even a Vedāntic scholar would feel immensly interested in them.
Siddhasena hits hard at the vanity of pretended and vocal scholarship (VI.1), at blind toleration of contradictions in what is inherited (VI.3-4) out of respect for purātana (VI.5; cf. Kālidāsa : Mālavikāgnimitra). His challenge to blind faith and inherited orthodoxy full of inconsistency (VI.7-8) is quite characteristic; and he appeals to reason to value what is worthy (VI.28). His Vedavāda-dvă (which is fully reproduced here) is a remarkable piece exposing Dvaita-Sāmkhya and Vedānta, and in fact, presenting Jaina principles in Upanişadic terminology. To under