''Samayasāra'' (''The Nature of the Self'') is a famous
Jain text composed by ''
Acharya Kundakunda'' in 439 verses. Its ten chapters discuss the nature of ''
Jīva'' (pure self/soul), its attachment to
Karma and
Moksha (liberation). ''Samayasāra'' expounds the Jain concepts like ''
Karma'', ''
Asrava'' (influx of ''karmas''),
Bandha (Bondage), ''
Samvara'' (stoppage), ''
Nirjara'' (shedding) and
Moksha (complete annihilation of ''karmas'').
History
''Samayasara'' was written by Acharya
Kundakunda
Kundakunda was a Digambara Jain monk and philosopher, who likely lived in the 2nd CE century CE or later.
His date of birth is māgha māsa, śukla pakṣa, pañcamī tithi, on the day of Vasant Panchami.
He authored many Jain texts such as: ...
in
Prakrit
The Prakrits (; sa, prākṛta; psu, 𑀧𑀸𑀉𑀤, ; pka, ) are a group of vernacular Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 3rd century BCE to the 8th century CE. The term Prakrit is usu ...
.
Contents
The original ''Samayasara'' of Kundakunda consists of 415 verses and was written in
Prakrit
The Prakrits (; sa, prākṛta; psu, 𑀧𑀸𑀉𑀤, ; pka, ) are a group of vernacular Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 3rd century BCE to the 8th century CE. The term Prakrit is usu ...
. The first verse (
aphorism) of the ''Samayasāra'' is an invocation: According to ''Samayasāra'', the real self is only that soul which has achieved
ratnatraya i.e. Samyak Darshan, Samyak Gyan and Samyak Charitra. These state when soul achieves purity is
Arihant and
Siddha. It can be achieved by victory over five senses. According to ''Samayasāra'':
Commentaries
It has a number of commentaries on it. ''Atmakhyati'' or ''Samayasara Kalasha'', written by Acharya
Amritchandra in 12th century CE, is a 278-verse
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominalization, nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cul ...
commentary. ''Samaysar Kalash Tika'' or ''Balbodh'' was written by Pande Rajmall or Raymall in 16th century CE. It is a commentary of Amritchandra's ''Samaysar Kalasha''. ''Nataka Samayasara'' is a commentary on Rajmall's version which was written by
Banarasidas in
Braj Bhasha in 17th century CE.
See also
*
Sarvārthasiddhi
*
Moksha (Jainism)
References
Citations
Sources
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Prakrit Jain texts
Eastern philosophical literature
Ancient Indian literature
Jain texts
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