Pravachansara

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

Page 16

Pravacanasāra
He concludes:
“I am inclined to believe, after this long survey of the available material, that Kundakunda's age lies at the beginning of the Christian era.”
It seems highly appropriate to go with this conclusion. Acārya Vidyānanda, too, in his Foreword to "Samayasāra’, concurs with this time of Acārya Kundakunda, “He graced the country with his divine presence in the first century B.C.” [Vijay K. Jain (2012), “Ācārya Kundakunda’s Samayasāra”, p. v.]
‘Pravacanasāra' of Acārya Kundakunda
Acārya Kundakunda's 'Pravacanasāra' is among the most popular Jaina Scriptures that are studied with great reverence by the ascetics as well as the laymen. Copies of 'Pravacanasāra'that are found in Jaina collections are along with the commentary, called 'Tattvapradīpikā' of Acārya Amrtcandra, and/or the commentary, called "Tātparyyavrtti' of Acārya Jayasena. Both commentaries are in Sanskrit. According to Acārya Amộtcandra's version, it has 275 gāthās in three sections (adhikāra or śrutaskandha). The first section - Reality of Knowledge (jñānatattva) - has 92 gāthās, the second - Reality of Objects-of-Knowledge (jñeyatattva) - 108 gāthās, and the third - Reality of Conduct (cāritratattva) – 75 gāthās. According to Ācārya Jayasena's version, it has 311 gāthās in three sections, comprising 101, 113, and 97 gāthās, respectively. There is another wonderful commentary in Hindi by Pande Hemarāja ‘Bālabodhabhāṣāțikā', based on the version by Ācārya Amstcandra.
This book follows the version of Acārya Amrtcandra and the Explanatory Notes after each gāthā are generally guided by the Hindi commentary by Pande Hemarāja. We present here some profound concepts contained in ‘Pravacanasara': Pure-cognition (suddhopayoga), auspicious-cognition (śubhopayoga) and inauspicious-cognition (aśubhopayoga) Consciousness (cetanā) manifests in form of cognition (upayoga). Through the faculty of cognition (upayoga), the soul (jīva) engages in
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