Book Title: Religion and Culture of the Jains Author(s): D C Sirkar Publisher: University of CalcuttaPage 90
________________ A. M. SHASTRI 75 Sthūlabhadra, no such statement is found in the Prabandhacintāmaņi. Likewise, while the Prabandhakośa describes Yaśobhadra, Bhadrabāhu, Sambhūtivijaya and Sthūlabhadra as possessing the knowledge of the fourteen Pūrvas (caturdaśapūrvin), the Prabandhacintämaņi does not make any such explicit statement. And lastly, the death of Varāhamihira's son according to Bhadrabāhu's prediction took place on the 20th day according to the Prabandhacintāmaņi, while this event is placed on the 7th day by the other work which further adds that, as a result of this incident, Varāhamihira's royal patron got himself converted to Jainism. Obviously the Prabandhakośa version, although composed only fortyfour years after the Prabandhacintāmaņi,' marks a great elaboration of the original story and overplays the rivalry between Varāhamihira and Bhadrabāhu in particular and between Jainism and Brāhmaṇical Hinduism in general. But fundamentally, there is no difference between these versions. By placing the incident during the reign of king Nanda, Merutunga also identifies Bhadrabāhu, the central figure of his story, with the homonymous caturdaśa-pūrvin Jain patriarch. If any historical value were to be attached to the above story, Varāhamihira will have to be regarded as a contemporary, nay even brother, of Bhadrabāhu who, according to the Jain tradition, was the last of the frutakevaļins and flourished a few centuries before Christ. There is no unanimity among the Jains about the date of the śrutakevalin Bhadrabāhu. The Digambara tradition as incorporated in the Tiloyapannatti, Dhavalā, Jayadhavalā and other works unanimously gives 162 years as the total period of the pontificate of the three kevalins and five śrutakevalins after Mahāvira's nirvāṇa.8 According to the Svetāmbara tradition 7 The Prabandhacintamani, as stated in its colophon (p. 125), was completed in Vikrama 1361 expired corresponding to 1306 A.D., while Rājasekharasūri finished his Prabandhakośa in Vikrama 1405 (p. 131) or 1349 A.D. 8 For a full discussion, see Kailash Chandra Sastri, Jaina Sahitya kā Hihāsa : Pürvapithikā, Varanasi, pp. 337-39. Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.orgPage Navigation
1 ... 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168