Swayambhustotra

Author(s): Vijay K Jain
Publisher: Vikalp

Page 18

Ācārya Samantabhadra must have lived after Ācārya Kundakunda and Ācārya Umāsvāmi but before Ācārya Pūjyapāda. Broadly, he has fixed Acārya Samantabhadra's time as the second or the third century of Vikram Samvata (VS). It may be noted that Gregorian Year 2000 CE corresponds to Year 2057 in the VS calendar.
Ācārya Samantabhadra is known to have authored the following profound treatises:
Apta-mīmāṁsā or Devāgamastotra Ratnakaraņdaka-śrāvakācāra Svayambhūstotra Yuktyanuśāsana Stutividyā or Jinaśataka or Jinastutiśataka or Jinaśatakalankāra Jivasiddhi
Gandhahastimahābhāsya
Uncertainty prevails about the existence of the last two treatises. Apta-mīmāṁsā, a treatise of 114 verses, discusses in a philosophicalcum-logical manner the Jaina concept of omniscience and the attributes of the Omniscient. Ratnakarandaka-śrāvakācāra is a celebrated and perhaps the earliest Digambara work on the conduct required of a Jaina householder (śrāvaka) for the acquisition and safekeeping of the Three Jewels (ratnatraya) comprising right faith, right knowledge and right conduct. Svayambhūstotra is the adoration of the twenty-four Tīrthankara, the Most Worshipful Supreme Beings, through 143 verses which enrich the reader's devotion, knowledge, and conduct. Yuktyanuśāsana, comprising 64 verses, evaluates in a logical manner the beliefs that lead to the attainment of the state of Supreme Bliss as against those that lead to the continuous wandering in the three worlds. Stutividyā, a treatise of 116 verses, is a composition with great floridity as well as profound meaning; when assimilated properly it leads to the destruction of inimical karmas.
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