________________
4 DWĀTRIMŚIKĀS OF SIDDHASENA
157
(I) Discussion of the state of society at the time of Siddhasena, the author ; (II) the information about Siddbasena and (III) a study of the Dwā. themselves.
I.
A critical study of the Dwā. gives the reader a general idea of the times in which they were composed, Those were the times when Samsksta language came into prominence and was mightily developed. this number is found in the printed edition because of the imperfect nature of the manuscripts which formed the basis of that edition, it is difficult to say with any absolute certainty. Still it seems to us that this absence of uniformity in the number of verses was not there from the beginning when the work was composed but is a subsequent development.
It cannot be said that all these Dwà. were composed by Siddhasena after he was initiated into Jaina religion. It is quite possible that some of these Dwā, might have been composed by Siddhasena prior to his initiation and that he or his followers and disciples might have collected together all these Dwa. and preserved them into their present form.
The Dwā, aiming its attack on the Mimāṁsā Philosophy of Jaimini is not found in the present edition. Perhaps this Dwā, is altogether lost. The present edition is extremely incorrect and full of doubtful readings. In some places, we could not bring out any sense from the verses even after a strenuous effort for a number of times. Some of the verses are not yet clear to us. If older and authentic manuscripts giving different readings be collected and examined, it will be possible to bring out a readable edition of these Dwă. Our present review of the Dwā. is based on the present mutilated and extremely incorrect edition of the Dwa, available to us. Our review is thus open to correction and alteration.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
