Samantabhadra (Jain Monk)

Samantabhadra was a Jain ācārya (head of the monastic order) who lived about the later part of the second century CE. He was a proponent of the Jaina doctrine of Anekāntavāda. The ''Ratnakaranda śrāvakācāra'' is the most popular work of Samantabhadra. Samantabhadra lived after Umaswami but before Pujyapada.

Life

Samantabhadra is said to have lived from 150 CE to 250 CE. He was from southern India during the time of Cholas. He was a poet, logician, eulogist and an accomplished linguist. He is credited with spreading Jainism in southern India.

Samantabhadra, in his early stage of asceticism, was attacked with a disease known as ''bhasmaka'' (the condition of insatiable hunger). As, digambara monks don't eat more than once in a day, he endured great pain. Ultimately, he sought the permission of his preceptor to undertake the vow of Sallekhana. The preceptor denied the permission and asked him to leave monasticism and get the disease cured. After getting cured he again joined the monastic order and became a great Jaina ācārya.

Thought

Samantabhadra affirmed Kundakunda's theory of the two ''nayas'' - ''vyavahāranaya'' (‘mundane') and ''niścayanaya'' (ultimate, omniscient). He argued however that the mundane view is not false, but is only a relative form of knowledge mediated by language and concepts, while the ultimate view is an immediate form of direct knowledge. Samantabhadra also developed further the Jaina theory of syādvāda.

Works

Jaina texts authored by ''Ācārya Samantabhadra'' include:
* Ratnakaranda śrāvakācāra (150 verses)- The ''Ratnakaranda śrāvakācāra'' discusses the conduct of a Śrāvaka (Jain laity) in detail.
* Gandhahastimahabhasya, a monumental commentary on the Tattvartha Sutra. The Gandhahastimahābhāṣya, with the exception of its ''Maṅgalācaraṇa'' (salutation to the deity), is extant now. The ''Maṅgalācaraṇa'' is known as the 'Devāgama stotra' or ''Āpta-mīmāṁsā''.
* Āpta-mīmāṁsā- A treatise of 114 verses, it discusses the Jaina concept of omniscience and the attributes of the Omniscient.
* Svayambhūstotra (fifth century CE) - A Sanskrit adoration of The Twenty-four '' Tīrthaṅkaras'' - 143 verses. It was later translated by Dhyanatray (1676-1726) in Agra.
* Yuktyanuśāsana- Sixty-four verses in praise of ''Tīrthaṅkara'' ''Vardhamāna Mahāvīra''.
* ''Jinaśatakam'' (Stutividyā)(116 verses)- Poetical work written in Sanskrit in praise of twenty-four ''Jina''s.
* Tattvānuśāsana

Praise

Jinasena, in his celebrated work, Ādi purāṇa praises the Samantabhadra as

See also

* Devardhigani Kshamashraman
*Hemachandra
* Hiravijaya

References

Citations

Sources

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Further reading

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{{Authority control

Jain acharyas
Indian Jain monks
2nd-century Indian Jains
2nd-century Jain monks
2nd-century Indian monks