Samantabhadra (Jain monk)

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Samantabhadra
Samantabhadra
Personal
Born2nd century CE
ReligionJainism
SectDigambara
Notable work(s)Ratnakaranda śrāvakācāra, Āpta-mīmāṁsā, Jinaśatakam

Samantabhadra was a

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 Chola dynasty. He was a poet, logician, eulogist and an accomplished linguist.[3] He is credited with spreading Jainism in southern India.[4]

Samantabhadra, in his early stage of asceticism, was attacked with a disease known as bhasmaka (the condition of insatiable hunger).[5] 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.[6] The preceptor denied the permission and asked him to leave monasticism and get the disease cured.[5] After getting cured he again joined the monastic order and became a great Jain Acharya.[7]

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.[8] Samantabhadra also developed further the Jain theory of syādvāda.[citation needed]

Works

English translation of the Ratnakaranda śrāvakācāra (1917) by Champat Rai Jain

Jain texts authored by Acharya Samantabhadra are:[9]

Praise

Jinasena, in his celebrated work, Ādi purāṇa praises the Samantabhadra as[18]

Acharya Samantrabhadra’s glory reigned supreme among all poets, scholars, disputants, and preachers; he was like a jewel on their heads.

References

Citations

Sources