Samayasara

Author(s): Kundkundacharya, Jethalal S Zaveri
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati

Page 37

Invocation
Sumayasāra vamdittu suvvasiddhe dhuvamacalamanovamam gadim patte. vocchāmi samayapāhudaminamo suyakevalībhanidam.. I
Ācārya Kundakunda declares that (vandittu) bowing to (savvasiddhe) all the emancipated souls who are (dhuvam) imperishable, (acalam) motionless and (patte) who have attained (anovamam gadim) the surpreme state of consciousness, (which is indescribable), (0) Hey ! (bhavyas!] (vocchāmi) I shall reiterate (inam) this (samaya-pāhudam) samaya prabhrata (sudakevalibhanidam) which has been propounded by śrutakevalī who are deemed to be omniscient by virtue of their perfect scriptural knowledge. Annotations :
The first verse (couplet) is the traditional auspicious invocation. The author, Ācārya Kundakunda, pays obeisance to all the emancipated souls and vows to reiterate (vocchāmi) what has already been propounded by those gifted persons who are deemed to be the omniscients by the virtue of their perfect scriptural knowledge, in the scripture called “Samaya-pāhuda'' i.e., scripture dealing with pure and perfect souls/Self. Thus he decleres that he is only a spokesman and not the originator of the subject. By the syllable 'o', he inspires all those who aspire to be enlightened to read and study it carefully.
Note the utmost honesty and humility of Ācārya Kundakunda in declaring that the originator of the subject is a śrutakevalī,2 while he is only a spokesman. The subject of the book is the pure and perfect Self. Now, the soul (Jiva), the conscious substance, being umurta, is not amenable to sensuous perception or intellectual understanding, and hence, the subject can be authoritatively propounded only by an omniscient (kevalī) or a śrutakevalī who is on par with kevali (in knowledge) by the virtue of his scriptural) knowledge of the subject. Even an erudite scholar like Ācārya Kundakunda cannot assume the authority of propounding the subject.
1. The term samaya means pure self, while the word pāhuda can be translated as
the essence or sāra. 2. See annotations on verses 9 & 10 of Ch. I for detailed discussion of the term
śrutakevali.
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