________________
98
: Śramana, Vol 59, No. 4/October-December 2008
These Bhaṭṭārakas guarded these treasures of Jaina texts like precious jewels and were very strict in not letting people even have scent of these manuscripts in their possession, lest there was every risk and danger of these being burnt or destroyed by those opposed to Jainism. How a copy of one of the two ancient (2,000 years old) most sacred Digambara scriptures/canons Satkhaṇḍāgama, together with Dhavală commentary thereon written in 9th Century A.D., came to be smuggled out of the custody of the Bhaṭṭāraka of Mudbadri in Karnataka (India) and translated, published in Hindi and made available to the world only in the 19th Century, indeed makes it a very thrilling, adventurous story. In these circumstances, it is not at all surprising, if Kundakunda's works, including Samayasara, could not come to light before Amṛtacandra wrote his commentary thereon in the 9th-10th Century AD.
(3) Dhaky wants to push Kundakunda's date to the latter half of the 8th Century A.D also on the ground of the content of his works. He states: his [Kundakunda's] highly advanced thoughtconstructs, fresh concepts, new epistemological positions, novel approaches to and new interpretations, as well as fresh application of old knowledge, and the concomitant or relevant terminological jargon (which is far ahead of the canonical literature), clearly indicate that he cannot be an early author. Kundakundācārya's style of writing is in effect far advanced compared to any exhibited in the available early nirgrantha writings in Ardhamāgadhi and other Prakrits. His own verses in his works show powerful articulations and strong directness and acuity combined with subtleties, precision [etc.]. If he (Kundakunda) were to flourish in the 1" century B. C. - A.D. His style of writing and phraseology then would have been archaic, the jargon as well as the concepts and their presentation would have been far less advanced than is apparent in his writings."
It is only with the avowed intention to push Kundakunda to a later date that Dhaky states that the "context of Kundakunda's works when compared to Umāsvāti is more advanced in terms of concepts as well as exposition"45 and that Kundakunda is "fully aware of the
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
