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Some Less Known Verses of Siddhasena Divakara
Prof. M. A, Dhaky
The illustrious Jaina epistemologist, dialectician and poet of the calibre of Kālidāsa, namely Siddha. sena Divakara (c. late 4th-early 5th cent. A.D.), had produced more than what today is extant. Among his lost works was the treatise on Jaina logic, the Nayavatāral; a sentence perhaps from this very work is cited by Simha Süri kşamāśramana (c. A.D. 625-675) in his commentary on Mallavādi kşamāśramana's Dvādaśāranayacakra (c. mid 6th cent. A.D.). And although his 20 dvātrimśikās in Sanskrit are available (from the alleged 32 5), the existence of some of the unavailable can be inferred from the quotations therefrom by other writers.
The Siddhasena-carita inside the Prabhāvaka-carita (S. 1344/A.D. 1278) of Prabhācandrācārya of Rāja-gaccha gives a legendary account of Siddhasena, the account at best can boast to contain only a few fragmented facts that could be historical. Among the significant data preserved in this work are a few quotations whose utterance is ascribed to Siddhasena Divākara, though these are not traceable inside his currently known works.
Among such verses are the following which he is alleged to have composed in praise of, and recited before, king Vikramaditya (probably Candragupta II, A.D. 382-415):
अपूर्वेयं धनुर्विद्या भवता शिक्षिता कृतः । मार्गणोधः समभ्येति गुणो याति दिगन्तरम् ।। at 977*T*TAT: Farfa 14:1 यद्यशोराजहंसस्य पञ्जरं भुवनत्रयम् ।। सर्वदा सर्वदोऽसीति मिथ्या संस्तूयसे बुधः । नारयो लेभिरे पष्ठं न वक्षः परयोषितः ।।
1. Cf. Muni Jambuvijaya (editor), Dvādaśāraṁ-nayacakrań, pt. 1, Bhavanagar, 1966, Preface (Sanskrit)
p. 10 and Introduction (Gujarāti) p. 48. **." 2 प्रस्ति-भवति-विद्यति-पद्यति-वतंतयः सन्नियात षष्ठा: सत्तार्थाः इत्यविशेषेणोक्तत्वात् सिद्धसेनसूरिणा। : 3. Jambuvijaya: Dvādaśāras-nayacakrań, p. 324. 4. The style of the phrase under reference does remind of Siddhasenācārya. . 5 The medieval and later medieval prabandhas and caritas so over. There are at present no means
available to confirm or contradict their statement. 6. Ed. Jinavijaya Muni, Singhi Jaina Series, No. 13, Ahmedabad-Calcutta, 19310"
.. 7. I am discussing this question at some length in my paper "Was Siddhasena Divākara Yāpaniya ?”
जैन वर्शन मीमांसा
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