Sanskrit Manuscripts : Dharmasaṃgraha

Medhāvin, Medhāvin

Sanskrit Manuscripts

<p style='text-align: justify;'>This manuscript contains the first six chapters (<i>adhikāra</i>) of the rare work <i>Dharmasaṅgraha</i> of the Digambara author Medhāvin. Belonging to the genre of <i>śrāvakācāra</i>, the text deals with various topics of the right conduct of laymen, for instance with the five minor vows (<i>pañcāṇuvrata</i>) of a housholder. The text ends abruptly at <i>adhikāra</i> 7, verse 93. In its complete form the work consists of 10 chapters (<i>adhikāra</i>s). The first three chapters set the context where the teaching took place: it is imparted by Mahāvīra, answering to the questions of king Śreṇika. This is the occasion for a detailed description of the Jina's <i>samavasaraṇa</i>. The detailed <i>praśasti</i> of the work has the following information: „The author of the Dharma-saṃgraha-śrāvakācāra tells us in his praśasti that Paṇḍita Mīha, a kṣullaka living at Hīsapura and a pupil of Jinacandra Muni, commenced this work during the reign of Firūz Khān of Nagpur and that he, Medhāvin, also a native of Hīsapura, completed it in saṃvat <i class='error' style='font-style:normal;' title='This text in error in source'>1561</i><i class='delim' style='font-style:normal; color:red'>(!)</i>, basing it on the writings of Samantabhadra, Vasunandin, and Āśādhara.“ (Williams 1963: 30 and Śāstrī 1979: 224-231). From the chapter titles we learn that Medhāvin lived at Jinacandrasūri's place. Velankar states in his Jinaratnakośa (Velankar 1944: 194) that the work consists of 1440 textunits (<i>granthāgra</i>). An edition of the chapters 4-10 is found in Śāstri 1976 on pp. 95-197, but chapters 1-3 are not included in this edition. </p>