Study of Tattvarthasutra with Bhasya

Author(s): Suzuko Ohira
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

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Scc. 4. VERIFICATION OF PRASASTI
archival errors, is the oldest valid source to verify the autobiographical account of Umāsvāti. Then it suffices to prove that the prasasti is the authentic document written by the author himself.
Our task is not fully over yet. We have not yet raised a question - what is this Nagari sākha ? Mathura inscriptions list all the three Nāgari šākhas recorded in the Kulpasūtra. The seat of Uccairnāgari šākā is Bulandashahar, U. P. Vajranagari (Pk. Vajjanāgari) should be, according to Bühler's proposal, corrected into Vrijināgari which is derived from Vịji country of Bihar.21 The location of Candanāgasi sākā is not traceable. It is likely that a Nāgari sakhā means the sākhā derived from a place name bearing the word 'nagara 22 inasmuch as the later Nägara gaccha was derived from Vadanagara. The relation between the Nägara caste of Brahmanical system and the Jaina Nāgara sect is denied by the scholars.23
His gotra 'Kaubhisana' is not listed in the Gotrapravaramañiari. Its possible forms of corruption are also difficult to be traceable therein. Bhisana meaning terrifying, frightening and horrible, is the name of Siva, 24 to which ‘ku' is affixed. In all probability, Vācaka Sväti was a descendant of the Saiva Brahmin 25 His proficiency in Sanskrit and his interest in and knowledge of the non-Jaina thoughts which are all unusual for the Jainas in the classical age also support a conjecture that he was likely a convert from the Brabnianical faith. Naming a child by giving the names of his parents was a common practice in ancient Iodia. Uma-Svāti certainly sounds peculiar,and he seems to have been called Svāti after his father in the olden days as the earlier pattāvalis report. Nyagrodhika, the birth place of author, is difficult to identify, which might have probably been in U. P. not far away from Uccair nagara or Bulandashihar. Kusumapura must be identified with Pāțaliputra, the ancient capital of the Nandas through the Guptas, where the First Jaina Canonical Conference was held. Umāsvāti seems to have preferred the classical name 'Kusuma' to 'Patali' for the usage of the latter violates the metrics of the poem which is composed in Āryā metre.
We have thus somehow achieved in justifying and attesting the fact that the prasasti, which was believed by Siddhasenagani to have been written by the author himself, is the authentic record of Umāsvāti in the light of the Nandisūtra pattāvali with the help of the Kalpa therāvali. This clears up the pending problem of the authorship of the s.kārikā. We have thus duly demonstrated that the Sabhāşya T. S. was composed by Umāsvāti himself.
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