________________
86
RELIGION AND CULTURE OF THE JAINS
capital of Magadha during the reign of Bhadrabāhu's royal patron, Candragupta Maurya ; Rājagặha had long ceased to occupy this position. Evidently, in his eagerness to give a halo of antiquity to the work, its compiler lost sight of all laistorical facts. This introductory portion, wherein Bhadrabāhu is styled mahātman and bhagavat, clearly indicates that the work could not have emanated from any Bhadrabāhu, neither the śrutakevalin nor any of his later namesakes. This conclusion is also supported by some other considerations. Thus at one place we are told that an intelligent person should decide the prospects of rainfall after hearing the words of Bhadrabāhu (XI.52). At another place it is stated that Bhadrabāhu described the prospects of fluctuation of prices after observing the auspicious and inauspicious yogas of the planets and stars (XXV.50). Then again, the expression these are the words of Bhadrabāhu' (Bhadrabāhu-vaco yatha) is met with repeatedly throughout the work.52 Secondly, the Chedasūtras attributable to Bhadrabāhu I and the niryuktis and the Uvasaggaharapāsa of a later Bhadrabāhu are all in Prakrit, and it is reasonable to assume that even if any of these Bhadrabāhus really composed a Samhitā it sliould also have been in the same language, whereas the extant Bhadrabāhu-- samhitā is in Sanskrit. Thirdly, Merutunga and Rājasekharasūri represent Bhadrabāhu as a superior rival of Varāhamihira, and we shall not be unjustified in expecting Bhadra bāhu's Samhitā, intended to compete with his rival Varāhamihira's Bșhatsamhitā,68 to excel the latter work in point of contents. and presentation. The case is, however, just the opposite. The Bhadrabāhusamhitā lacks unity of composition. A majority of chapters begin with a verse stating that the author would delineate such and such a subject.64 No such statement is,
52 Ibid., III.31, 64; VI.17; VII.19; IX.26, 62; X.16,44 ; XI.26, 30; XII.37 ; XIII.74, 100, 178 ; XIV.54, 136; XV.36, 72,,127, 145, 166, 178 ; XVIII.24 ; XX.14; XXIII.28; XXIV.23 ; XXVI.42.
53 Called Vārāhi Sarhità in the Prabandhacintāmaņi and Prabandhakośa.
54 In some cases, the concluding verse of a chapter mentions the sub. ject dealt with in the following chapter,
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
