Sanskrit Manuscripts : Kṣetrasamāsavṛtti

Haribhadrasūri, Haribhadrasūri

Sanskrit Manuscripts

<p style='text-align: justify;'>This is a manuscript of the <i>Laghukṣetrasamāsavṛtti</i>, a commentary written in Sanskrit by Haribhadrasūri. According to the commentator's colophon itself the date of composition is V.S. 1185 = 1128 CE. The text commented upon consists of 109 verses in Jaina Māhārāṣṭrī Prakrit which are found in the <i>Samayakhettasamāsa</i> or <i>Kṣetrasamāsa</i> written by Jinabhadra between V.S. 545 and V.S. 650 (Leumann 1934: 55a and 55b: 'eine 109-strophige Recension ist von Haribhadra commentirt worden'; Leumann No. 204 in Plutat 1998; Desai 1968: 168-169). Haribhadra's commentary is chronologically the first. Other commentaries of this work in longer recensions exist. The largest one is that of Malayagiri (V.S. 1200). The Cambridge manuscript is valuable as not so many manuscripts of this text with Haribhadra's commentary seem to be available even in India, a fortiori outside India (see bibliography). In addition the Cambridge manuscript is dated and old: it was copied in V.S. 1491 = 1434 CE in Ajmer, Rajasthan. The copyist is Kamalacandragaṇi, pupil of Jayaśekhara, from the Kṛṣṇarṣigaccha. This Śvetāmbara monastic order, also known as Kṛṣṇagaccha or Kṛṣṇarājarṣigaccha, is a branch of the wider Tapāgaccha. Evidence from inscriptions and manuscript colophons shows that it was active, in particular in Rajasthan, during the 14th-15th centuries (Jain 1963: 61-62; Jain 1975: 57; Nahar 1983: Nos 98, 426, 586; Jinavijaya 1943: No. 298). The colophon of the Cambridge manuscript is valuable because this <i>gaccha</i> is not among those which are most frequently mentioned.</p>