Sanskrit Manuscripts : Narakhittaviyāra

Somatilakasūri, Somatilakasūri, Somatilakasūri, Somatilakasūri

Sanskrit Manuscripts

<p style='text-align: justify;'>This is a manuscript of the <i>Narakhittaviyāra</i> "Reflection about the area of humans" [in the Jain universe] by Somatilakasūri, also known as <i>Navyakṣetrasamāsa</i> or <i>Bṛhatkṣetrasamāsa</i>. It is written in Jaina Māhārāṣṭrī Prakrit and has 388 verses: verse 100 is on<a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(5);return false;'> f.3r</a> ; verse 200 is on <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(9);return false;'>f.5r</a>, line 7; verse 300 is on <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(13);return false;'> f.7r</a>, line 9. This cosmological work was composed around 1340 CE and belongs to the intermediate phase of Jain cosmological writings (compared to the earlier one represented by Jinabhadragaṇi, 6th century, and the later one represented by Vinayavijaya in the 17th century). Somatilakasūri belonged to the Tapāgaccha. This is a very significant manuscript because of its old age and because outside India manuscripts having the Prakrit text of Somatilakasūri without commentary are relatively rare, as is shown by Velankar (1944). One example is the Berlin manuscript catalogued by Schubring 1944, No. 779 (Ms. or. fol. 1745) which is undated. In the British Library collections, for instance, there are two mss. (Or. 2118 D and Or. 5178) with Guṇaratna’s Sanskrit commentary, but neither quotes the Prakrit verses in full. The Cambridge manuscript would have to be considered for an edition of this work, which seems to be unpublished so far.</p>