Rushibhashit Sutra

Author(s): Vinaysagar, Sagarmal Jain, Kalanath Shastri, Dineshchandra Sharma
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

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In the Buddhist tradition Sanjay has been termed as skeptic or indicisive because he did not give final or conclusive answer to philosophical questions. In modern terms he must be visualising various possible alternatives to the solution of a philosophical problem, and consequently did not use a conclusive terminology. This view point of his is evident in the following words mentioned in Rishibhashit : ‘To understand the evil-Karma comprehensively is a matter of doubt.288 Because the decision about a Karma being good or evil is possible only on pondering properly from angles of matter, space, time, attitude, and effort'. The term 'Rahasse' used in Rishibhashit, is worth a special thought. Also, here 'Sammam Janitta' would be more appropriate in place of 'Samajjinitta' (refer to the prose part after the fourth couplet). In Rishibhashit the discourse of Sanjay is very brief. It states that evil deed should neither be done nor made to be done; if done by force of circumstances, it should not be repeated again but criticized instead.
In conclusion, it can be said that Sanjay Rishi mentioned in Rishibhashit and Uttaradhyayan are same. It is a strong possibility that he was also the earlier teacher of Sariputta and one of the six Teerthankar contemporaries of Buddha, Sanjay Velatthipuita. In Vedic tradition we find the mention of Sanjay, a minister of Dhritarashtra;289 but from periodic and other angles he is a different person than the Sanjay of Rishibhashit.
40. DVAIPAYAN (Devayan) The fortieth chapter of Rishibhashit contains the collection of preachings of Dvaipayan Rishi. Besides Rishibhashit, Dvaipayan (Deevayan) has also been mentioned in Sutrakritang290, Samvayang, 291 Aupapatik, 292, Antakritadasha293, Dashvaikalikchurni294, and Sutrakritang-churni295. He has uniformly been said to be a Rishis from outside the Nirgranth tradition. Sutrakritang has mentioned him with Rishis like Nami, Bahuk, Asit Deval, Narayan Parashar etc; and that he attained omniscience inspite of consuming unboiled water, fruits etc. According to Samvayang he shall be a Teerthankar in next ascending time cycle. In Aupapatik he has been mentioned as the founder of a particular tradition
Rishibhashit : A Study 213