Preface (Ācārya Pūjyapāda’s Sarvārthasiddhi)

Ācārya Pūjyapāda’s compositions have been enlightening, since last fifteen centuries, learned ascetics, scholars and the laity, on complex issues including the reality of substances and the path to liberation. He wrote in Sanskrit, in prose as well as verse forms. Over time, the language of his compositions may have lost its mass appeal but the subject matter continues to remain utterly relevant. His expositions reflect a divine understanding of the spiritual subjects and of the objects that are beyond sense-perception. Unmatched brilliance and lucidity mark his writings.

Three other names of Ācārya Pūjyapāda find mention in Jaina literature: Deva, Devanandi, and Jinendrabuddhi.

Ācārya Pūjyapāda was a digambara ascetic of high order, abounding in faith, knowledge, and conduct, the three cornerstones of the path leading to liberation. He was a master grammarian and an authority on secular subjects including linguistics, poetics and Āyurveda.

Ācārya Pūjyapāda was born in a Brahmin family of Karnataka. His parents were Mādhavabhaṭṭa and Śridevī. Kanakagiri, a Jaina heritage centre situated at a distance of about 50 km from Mysore, Karnataka, was his abode. He lived around 5th century CE. He was a renowned Preceptor of the Nandi Saṃgha, a part of the lineage of Ācārya Kundakunda (circa 1st century BCE to 1st century CE).

His writings reveal both the transcendental and the empirical points of view, and are helpful to the ascetics as well as the laity. He has expounded on the writings of Ācārya Kundakunda and Ācārya Umāsvāmī (alias Ācārya Gṛddhpiccha, Ācārya Umāsvāti). Deep influence of Ācārya Samantabhadra is conspicuous in his works.

That Ācārya Pūjyapāda was held in great esteem by the subsequent Jaina pontiffs is evident from the following two excerpts from the writings of learned Jaina Ācārya(s):

Ācārya Jinasena in Ādipurāṇa:

कवीनां तीर्थकृद्देवः किंतरां तत्र वर्ण्यते ।
विदुषां वाङ्मलध्वंसि तीर्थं यस्य वचोमयम् ॥ १.५२ ॥

kavīnāṃ tīrthakṛddevaḥ kiṃtarāṃ tatra varṇyate |
viduṣāṃ vāṅmaladhvaṃsi tīrthaṃ yasya vacomayam || (1.52)

How can one portray Ācārya Devanandi (alias Ācārya Pūjyapāda) who is like a ford-maker (Tīrthaṃkara, the ‘World Teacher’) among the poets and whose sacred articulation removes the faults of verbal expression of the scholars?

Ācārya Śubhacandra in Jñānārṇavaḥ [Jñānārṇava]:

अपाकुर्वन्ति यद्वाचः कायवाक्वित्तसम्भवम् ।
कलङ्कमङ्गिनां सो'यं देवनदी नमस्यते ॥ १.१५ ॥

apākurvanti yadvācaḥ kāyavākvittasambhavam |
kalaṅkamaṅgināṃ so'yaṃ devanadī namasyate || (1.15)

We make obeisance to Ācārya Devanandi (alias Ācārya Pūjyapāda) whose expressions wash away all dirt due to the activities of the body, the speech, and the mind.

It is mentioned in Jaina inscriptions and literature that Ācārya Pūjyapāda had the supernatural power to visit the Videha kṣetra to make obeisance to the Tīrthaṃkara Lord Sīmandharasvāmī. It is believed that on account of his vast scholarship and deep renunciation, his feet were worshipped by the deva and, therefore, the name Pūjyapāda (pūjya = venerable; pāda = the feet). The sacred water that anointed his feet could transform iron into gold. He used to visit holy places in celestial carriages and during one such occasion he lost his eyesight. He then composed Śāntyaṣṭaka and regained his sight. But after this incident, he took to samādhi and relinquished his body by courting voluntary, pious and passionless death.

Ācārya Pūjyapāda composed the following Jaina texts:

‘Jainendra Vyākaraṇa’–

A comprehensive work on Sanskrit grammar, considered to be an essential reading for the student of Jaina literature.

‘Sarvārthasiddhi’–

An authoritative commentary on ‘Tattvārthasūtra’ by Ācārya Umāsvāmī, it is truly a compendium of Jaina epistemology, metaphysics and cosmology.

The title ‘Sarvārthasiddhi’ implies that going through it one accomplishes all that is desirable; or, it is the means of attaining ineffable bliss appertaining to the liberated souls. There is no exaggeration involved in the above statement as ‘Sarvārthasiddhi’ is an exposition of the reality–the true nature of substances, soul and non-soul–the knowledge of which equips one to tread the path to liberation, as expounded in ‘Tattvārthasūtra’. Those who read, listen to, and assimilate this exposition have in their palms the nectar of eternal bliss; in comparison, the happiness of the king-of-kings (cakravartī) and of the lord of the deva (indra) is insignificant.

The treatise deals with the objects-of-knowledge that constitute the reality. There is beginningless intermingling of the soul (jīva) and the non-soul (ajīva) karmic matter, the two wholly independent substances. Our activities (yoga) are responsible for the influx (āsrava) of the karmic matter into the soul. Actuated by passions (kaṣāya) the soul retains particles of matter fit to turn into karmas. The taking in of the karmic matter by the soul is bondage (bandha). Obstructing fresh inflow of the karmic matter into the soul–saṃvara–and its subsequent separation or falling off from the soul–nirjarā–are two important steps in attaining the infallible, utterly pristine, sense-independent and infinitely blissful state of the soul, called liberation (mokṣa).

‘Samādhitantram [Samādhitantra]’ (also known as ‘Samādhiśataka’)–

Aspiritual work consisting of 105 verses outlines the path to liberation for an inspired soul. Living beings have three kinds of soul–the extroverted-soul (bahirātmā), the introverted-soul (antarātmā), and the pure-soul (paramātmā). The one who is utterly pure and rid of all karmic dirt is the pure-soul (paramātmā). ‘Samādhitantram [Samādhitantra]’ expounds the method of realizing the pure-soul (paramātmā), the light of supreme knowledge, and infinite bliss. It answers the vexed question, ‘Who am I?’ in a forceful and outrightly logical manner, in plain words.

‘Iṣṭopadeśa’–

a concise work of 51 didactic verses leads the reader from the empirical to the transcendental, from the mundane to the sublime, through an experiential process of self-realization, rather than through a metaphysical study of the soul-nature. ‘Iṣṭopadeśa’ unambiguously establishes the glory of the Self. It is an essential reading for the ascetic. The householder too who ventures to study it stands to benefit much as the work establishes the futility of worldly objects and pursuits, and strengthens right faith, the basis for all that is good and virtuous.

‘Daśabhakti’–

a collection of the adoration of the essentials that help the soul in acquiring merit. The essentials include the Supreme Beings, the Scripture, the Perfect Conduct, and the sacred places like the Nandīśvara dvīpa.

Some other works, including ‘Śāntyaṣṭaka’ (hymn in praise of the sixteenth Tīrthaṃkara, Lord Śāntinātha), ‘Sārasaṃgraha’, ‘Cikitsā-śāstra’ and ‘Jainābhiṣeka’, are also believed to have been authored by Ācārya Pūjyapāda.

Lucid style, precise expression and masterly exposition of the subject accord all his compositions highly revered place in Jaina literature. What Ācārya Pūjyapāda has expounded is the word of the Omniscient Lord; his compositions are the never-setting sun that will continue to illumine the ten directions for eternity.

I make obeisance humble at the holy feet of Ācārya Pūjyapāda whose pure soul had mastered the ocean that is the Scripture.