Sambodhi 1998 Vol 22

Author(s): Jitendra B Shah, N M Kansara
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 23

12
MA DHAKY
SAMBODHI
in Sanskrit', it succinctly dwells on the delineation of the main doctrinal positions of the Buddhist creed without seriously indulging in their refutation This work is relatively less known among, and the least used by, even the Nirgrantha scholars an attempt, hence, is made in this paper to focus on its content without delving into the details and without resorting to serious interpretative efforts which are best left to the savants of the post-canonical Buddhism The work, as is available, contains 31 in lieu of 32 verses Perhaps the opening (invocatory), and not the concluding (as had been suggested), stanza is lost Siddhasena's works are known not only for their terseness but also profundity At the same time, as often, his style does not allow an easy access to its core and essential content The Bauddha-Santāna-dvātrimsikā, as its rubric would suggest, must in the main deal with the famous Buddhist concept of pratityasamutpada or the principle of dependent origination' However, it covers a larger field of the basic Buddhist notions, concepts, and postulates about the nature of Reality and concomitant themes The Dvātrimśikā, in the process of exposition, presses into service the then up-to-date jargon of the Buddhist philosophical visions From the concepts noted and the terms used, Siddhasena seemingly was familiar with the works of Nāgārjuna, and possibly of the Vaibhāska, Sautāntrika, and other pre-Yogācāra school masters who flourished before Asanga and Vasubandhu ( A D 400-480), as also possibly several other known, but less famous, some plausibly now unknown Buddhist writers Dinnāga's celebrated apohavāda (whether sabdārthāntara or arthāntara) and his logical positions, not to say of Dharmakīrt's amplified and refined statements which place earlier Buddhist theories and epistemological as well as logical postulates in clearer light and more defendable position, are absent in Siddhasena's composition This is because Siddhasena, predictably, had flourished before Dinnāga c A D 480-540 or earlier by a few decades) No old elucidative commentaries (excepting a late medieval one on the 21st, the Parātma-dvātrimśikālo) are available on Siddhasena's dvātrimśıkās Since he is subtle, concise, and a guably had loved ambiguity, his works are among the major challenges in the Nigrantha dārśanic literature, in terms of intellecting not only the content but also his intentions Sukhlal Sanghvi and Bechardas Dohı" as well as Pınakın Dave 12 who worked on his dvātrimśikäs, had found them tough The paucity of older manuscripts in sufficient number added one more impediment in deciding on a more sensible reading in some cases while