Swayambhustotra

Author(s): Vijay K Jain
Publisher: Vikalp

Page 16

In his other composition, Ratnakarandaka-śrāvakācāra, Ācārya Samantabhadra spells out the essential characteristics of true God:
परमेष्ठी परंज्योतिर्विरागो विमलः कृती । सर्वज्ञोऽनादिमध्यान्तः सार्वः शास्तोपलाल्यते ।। 7 ।।
The Supreme Teacher, worthy of our worship, is endowed with the divine light of omniscience, free from all kinds of desires, stainless, contented, all-knowing, without beginning, middle or end, and a benefactor for all living beings.
Ācārya Samantabhadra was a great Digambara ascetic endowed with exceptional knowledge of the Jaina doctrine. He preached and propagated, far and wide, core principles of the doctrine by visiting many places in India. His literary and philosophical talents are not open to dispute; many inscriptions and works by subsequent Jaina Ācāryas have extolled his virtues as well as his works in superlative terms. A case in point is the assertion by Ācārya Jinasena in Adipurāņa:
नमः समन्तभद्राय महते कविवेधसे । &lauda FA : 0824184: 11 43 11
I bow to Ācārya Samantrabhadra, the ultimate creator (Brahmā) among all poets, whose words are like the stroke of lightning which tears apart the mountain of misconceptions. कवीनां गमकानां च वादिनां वाग्मिनामपि । 221: 414746TL HET ISTU 11 44 11
Ācārya Samantrabhadra's glory reigned supreme among all poets, scholars, disputants, and preachers; he was like a jewel on their heads.
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