Nyayavatara and Nayakarnika

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

Page 74

Siddhasena and his Works
The Sanmati was looked upon as Sutra, and thus its opinions were accepted as authoritative in the Digambara tradition.
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Vidyanandi was more inspired by the study of Siddhasena's works then Akalanka was. In his Slokavārttika he quotes Gāthās of the Sanmati. He accepts as well as opposes some of the views of Siddhasena. In the classification of Nayas, he is following Siddhasena more than his own predecessors. He refers to a work called Nayacakra, but the influence of Sanmati cannot be underrated.
Silanka, Santisūri (Vādivetāla) and Vadideva have invoked the authority of the Sanmati in their commentaries and works.
The two Dva.s of Hemacandra follow the models of those of Siddhasena. Though in one case he imitates the Svayambhustotras of Samantabhadra, both of them are chiefly inspired by Siddhasena.
Yasovijaya appears to us a veritable disciple of Siddhasena of antiquity. He shows an all-embracing study of Siddhasena from whose works he has picked up topics and written independent Prakaranas on them. Yasovijaya appears to be almost the last great scholar to maintain the tradition of study of Siddhasena's works.
SIDDHASENA AND NON-JAINA AUTHORS: Bādarāyaṇa, Jaimini, Kanāda and Akṣapada loom large as the founders of Indian philosophical thought. It is natural that Siddhasena is influenced by them.
From among the Buddhist authors, it is possible that Siddhasena has studied the two works of Nagarjuna (2nd century A. D.): Madhyamaka-kärikā and Vigrahavyāvartinī-kārikā. Siddhasena described Mahavira as the founder of the Madhyama-mārga and interprets the Sunyavāda in his own way.
From the second hand sources that are available Siddhasena appears to have taken his Vādas from the great works of Maitreya and Asanga. Though Vasubandhu's original works are not entirely available, it is possible to say, from the portions from them studied by us, that Siddhasena's patterns and titles appear to have been taken from Vasubandhu. Siddhasena is positively aware of the Vijñānavāda.