________________
Dhruvarāśi Takanika in Jaina Canons
Dr. L. C. Jain* 1. Introduction
At present the commentaries on the Süryaprajñapti are those due to Malayagiri', Amolaka Rşi2 and Ghāsilāla? Kohl had contributed a text which was revised by A. Olz. Similarly, the commentaries of the Candraprajñapti are available". These texts are from the fifth sub-composition ( upānga ) of the Svetāmbara Jaina School, in Ardhamāgadhi Prākrt. According to Jacobi and Schubring they might have taken shape during the third and fourth century B. C. According to Needham and Lingo, they may go back to the latter part of the 1st millennium B.C. Certain descriptions are available in the contents rendered by Weber, Ind. Stud., 10, 254ff. ( 1868 ) and Thibaut?, JASB 40, comp. and also in his 'Astronomie' in the Grundias, p. 20ff., 29.
The 'Tiloyapannatti' was compiled by Yati Vrsabha ( c.5th century A. D. or earlier 18. This is in Sauraseni Prākrt and belongs to the Digambara Jaina School. Similarly in the same school the Dhavală commentary texts were composed by Virasena ( c. 9th century A. D. ) on the Satkhandāgama texts which were composed by Puspadanta and Bhūtabali (c. 2nd century A. D. or earlier ). The Gommatasāra 10 texts of this school form the summary texts of the Satkhandāgama texts, composed by Nemicandra Siddhāntacakravarti (c. 10-11th century A. D.).
The term Dhruvarāsi appears in the above texts except the Gommatasāra in which the term Dhruvahāra has been used. This appears to be an invariant or constant of the equation of motion and has been sometimes used as a parameter for generating a group of events which were periodic in character. The noted periodicity in the five-year yuga system of India was thus tackled through the Dhruvarāśi technique. 2. The Dhruvarāśi Technique in the Tiloyapannatti
In the Tiloypannatti, the technique of Dhruvarāśi has been applied for finding out the distance between the orbits of the moon and those of the sun from the Meru".
Description of the three relevant verses is as follows:
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
