Pujyapada

Ācārya Pūjyapāda who lived in the 5th century of the Common Era was a renowned grammarian and saint belonging to the Digambara tradition of Jains. Before initiation as a Jain ascetic, he was known as Devanandi. Since it was believed that he was worshiped by demigods on account of his vast scholarship and deep piety, he was named Pūjyapāda. He was heavily influenced by the writings of his predecessors like Ācārya Kundakunda and Ācārya Samantabhadra. He is rated as being the greatest of the early masters of Jain literature. [Page 98, Jain, Jyoti Prasad. "The Jaina Sources of the History of Ancient India." Second, revised edition: 2005.] He was prominent preceptor, with impeccable pontifical pedigree and spiritual lineage. "He was a great yogi, sublime mystic, brilliant poet, noted scholar, eminent author and master of several branches of learning. [Page 98, Ibid.] He wrote in Sanskrit, in prose as well as verse form. [Page 98, Ibid.] He was pontiff of the Nandi sangha, which was a part of the lineage of Ācārya Kundakunda. He was the tenth guru of the pontifical lineage of the Nandi Sangha. He was born in a brahmin family of Karnataka. His parents were Madhava Bhatta and Shridevi. [Introduction. Jain, Jaykumar."Samadhitantra". First edition, 2006.]

It is likely that he was the first Jain saint to write not only on religion but also on secular subjects, such as ayurveda and Sanskrit grammar. When one looks at the earlier writers in the Jain tradition, notably Kundakunda and Samantabhadra, one does not find any secular writings. They wrote beautifully on religion and the means to attain liberation. Whereas Ācārya Pūjyapāda, besides being a profound scholar of the Jain religion and a mendicant walking in the footsteps of the Jinas, was a grammarian, master of Sanskrit poetics and of ayurveda. Ācārya Pūjyapāda was said to be the guru of King Durvinita of the Ganga dynasty. ["Jaina Antiquary". Volume XVIII.1, pp 13-15.] He is reliably dated as having lived between 464 - 524 CE. [Page 102, Jain, Jyoti Prasad. "The Jaina Sources of the History of Ancient India." Second, revised edition: 2005.]

Ācārya Pūjyapāda’s works

*IAST|Jainendra Vyākaraṇa (Jainendra Grammar) - "Jainendra Vyākaraṇa" deals with Sanskrit grammar and is considered as one of the finest early works on Sanskrit grammar.

*IAST|Sarvārthasiddhi (Attainment of Higher Goals) - "Sarvārthasiddhi" is a commentary on the Tattvārthasūtra, marked by precision and conciseness. It serves as the definitive mula patha for all Digambara works on the "Tattvārthasūtra". "Sarvārthasiddhi" is the earliest surviving commentary on the "Tattvārthasūtra", since an even earlier commentary, the "Gandhahastī Mahābhāṣya" of Ācārya Samantabhadra, is no longer available. Not even the famed Jain manuscript libraries, known as Grantha Bhandaras, have a copy of the "Gandhahastī Mahābhāṣya".

*IAST|Samādhitantra (Method of Self-Contemplation) – It is a treatise on yoga and adhyatma, outlining the path to liberation through differentiating the soul from the body. This is a short work, succinctly written, comprising of 106 verses.

*IAST|Iṣṭopadeśa (Divine Sermons) – It is a concise work of 51 verses dealing with the real and ethical aspects of life using examples from our day to day lives. Ācārya Pūjyapāda adumbrates the spiritual requirements that would transform our mundane lives into the sublime. Pūjyapāda differentiates between the important and the trivial, the essential and the non-essential and explains how the soul is different from its mortal coil. He goes a step further and explains that without realizing the essential difference between the eternal, i.e. the soul and the mutable, i.e. the body, all the devotion and all the meritorious deeds one performs shall not lead to liberation.

* "IAST|Daśabhaktyādisangraha" (Collection of Ten Adorations) - This is a collection of 10 adorations of the Arihantas and the Siddhas, meant to be performed by Jain ascetics. It also serves to record traditions, especially concerning the life of Mahāvīra.

* "IAST|Śāntyāṣṭaka" (Hymn in Praise of Śāntinātha) - A poem of 8 verses in adoration of Bhagavān Śāntinātha, the 16th Tīrthankara.

* "IAST|Kalyāṇakāraka" (Causer of Benefit) - A valuable work on āyurveda.

:Digambara Jain monks hold that one must master three texts in order to have a fruitful ascetic career: ::i) "IAST|Samādhitantra" to cleanse the soul::ii) "Jainendra Vyākaraṇa" to cleanse one's language::iii) "Kalyāṇakāraka" to cleanse one's body and keep it free of disease and the debilitating effects of aging.

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* "Jainābhiṣeka" (Jain Anointment) - A work on Jain rituals

* "Chandaśāstra" (Treatise on Prosody) - A work on Sanskrit prosody

Ācārya Pūjyapāda’s philosophy

Pūjyapāda is emphatic and focused that liberation is the only way to attain eternal bliss. Pointing to the knotty nature of materialism, existentialism and hedonism he leads the reader to the path of spiritual bliss through rational knowledge, rational perception and rational conduct. He is a writer of brevity and does not believe in highly embellished poetry. He says what he needs to in simple Sanskrit verse.

ome Publications of Ācārya Pūjyapāda's works

Pūjyapāda. IAST|"Iṣṭopadeśa". Sanskrit text, Hindi translation, Introduction and Shloka Index. Hindi translation by Dr Jaykumar Jalaj. Edited by Manish Modi. Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 14. Mumbai: Hindi Granth Karyalay, 2007. ISBN 978-81-88769-23-0.

Pūjyapāda. "Samādhitantra". Sanskrit text, Hindi translation, Introduction and Shloka Index. Hindi translation by Dr Jaykumar Jalaj. Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 5. Mumbai: Hindi Granth Karyalay, 2006. ISBN 978-81-88769-06-3.

Online Information of related interest

*http://www.jainstudy.org
*http://www.hindibooks.8m.com
*http://www.gohgk.comPujya pada has written an exclusive text book on the management of eye diseases entitled NETRA PRAKASHIKA . The manuscript is in taleyole form is available in tanjore sarswathi mahal library of tanjavur...Any one has seen the book in print form?

Attribution

*"The original version of this article incorporated text from http://www.gohgk.com/servlet/Detail?no=15, a GFDL source."

References and Notes