Panchastikay Sangraha With Authentic Explanatory Notes in English

Author(s): Vijay K Jain
Publisher: Vikalp Printers

Page 9

PREFACE मंगलं भगवान्वीरो मंगलं गौतमो गणी / मंगलं कुन्दकुन्दार्यो जैनधर्मोऽस्तु मंगलम् // These four are auspicious (mangala) - Lord Mahavira (the Omniscient Tirthankara), Gautamasvami (the Apostle - ganadhara - who assimilated the Word of Lord Mahavira), Acarya Kundakunda (the great composer of the Scripture), and the Jaina 'dharma' (the conduct or 'dharma' based on the teachings of Lord Mahavira). The name of Acarya Kundakunda has an auspicious significance and is uttered with great veneration. Almost universally, the Jainas - ascetics (muni, sramana) and laymen (sravaka) - recite the above verse as a mark of auspiciousness at the start of their activities. The Scripture (agama) - the Word of the Omniscient Lord There were eleven ganadhara in Lord Mahavira's (599-527 BCE) congregation, with Gautamasvami, also known as Indrabhuti, as his chief disciple. After liberation (nirvana) of Lord Mahavira, sequentially, in the course of next sixty-two years, three anubaddha kevali attained omniscience (kevalajnana) - Gautamasvami, Sudharmacarya, and Jambusvami. They are called 'sequential' or 'anubaddha' kevali because of the fact that Gautamasvami attained omniscience on the day Lord Mahavira attained liberation, and so on. During the course of the next one hundred years, five srutakevalil had complete knowledge of the 'agama'; they were Nandi, Nandimitra, 1 Lord Jina, the illuminator of the world, has expounded that, for sure, the one who, on the authority of his knowledge of the Scripture - bhavasrutajnana - knows entirely, by his own soul, the all-knowing nature of the soul is the srutakevali. (see 'Pravacanasara', verse 1-33) The Omniscient (the kevali), with his unparalleled and eternal, infiniteknowledge, experiences simultaneously the supreme nature of his soul through the soul. The srutakevali, with his knowledge of the Scripture, experiences consecutively the supreme nature of his soul through the soul. Both, the . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IX