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Jérôme Petit, Banārasīdās's Karmachattīsī
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The Karmaprakrtividhāna is as well structured as the Karmachattīsi is not. Mixture of Jaina doctrine, medical evidences, Digambara philosophy, the Karmachattīsī is a kind of reminder probably written by Banārasīdās to etch in his memory readings and oral learning provided by pandits he listened to. In order to compare with a more official' doctrine, we used the Tattvārthasūtra and the Tattvārthavrtti,? a Digambara commentary by Śrutasāgarasūri (16th c.), disciple of Vidyānandi, a bhattāraka from Gujarat.
Karmachattīsī
परम निरंजन परम गुरु, परम पुरुष परधान।
वन्दहं परमसमाधिगत, भयभंजन भगवान ॥१॥ 1.
parama-nirañjana parama-guru, parama-purusa paradhāna.
vandahũ parama-samādhi-gata, bhaya-bhañjana bhagavāna. I bow to the Lord, supremely pure, supreme master, the best among the supreme men, ' who has reached supreme contemplation, who destroys fear.
जिनवाणी परमाण कर, सुगुरु शीख मन आन।
कछुक जीव अरु कर्म को, निर्णय कहों वखान ॥२॥ 2.
Jina-vāni paramāna kara, suguru sikha mana āna.
kachuka jīva aru karma ko, nirnaya kahõ vakhāna. Having taken the Jina's speech as the authority, which is a very important teaching brought to mind, I expound some conclusions on soul and on karma.
अगम अनन्त अलोकनभ, तामें लोक अकाश।
सदाकाल ताके उदर, जीव अजीव निवास ॥३॥ 3. agama ananta aloka-nabha, tā mē loka akāśa.
sadā-kāla tā ke udara, jīva ajīva nivāsa. Empty space is motionless and infinite. It contains the world and the sky. Its womb is the place where sentient and non-sentient entities live eternally.
जीव द्रव्य की द्वै दशा, संसारी अरु सिद्ध।
पंच विकल्प अजीव के. अखय अनादि असिद्ध ॥४॥ 4. jīva dravya ki dvai daśā, samsārī aru siddha.
pañca vikalpa ajīva ke, akhaya anādi asiddha. The substance of the soul has two states: transmigratory and liberated. There are five varieties of non-sentient entities, which are imperishable, eternal, unrealised.
In his autobiography (AK 630-1), Banārasīdās evokes the figure of Rūpchand Pande who gave lectures on philosophical works such as Nemicandra's Gommatasāra. 7M. K. JAIN 1949.
