Merutunga

Merutuṅga was a medieval scholar from present-day Gujarat in India and was a Śvētāmbara Jain monk of the Añcala Gaccha. He is presently most well-known for his Sanskrit text, the Prabandhacintāmaṇi, composed in 1306 CE.^[1][2] He also wrote Vicāraśreṇī in 1350 CE which describes the chronology of Chāvḍā, Chaulukya and Vāghelā dynasties.^[3][4]

The Prabandhacintāmaṇi was composed in Vardhamāna (modern-day Wadhwan) in VS 1361 Phālguna Śukla 15, a Sunday.^[5] In the text itself, Merutuṅga states that Gaṇī Guṇacandra compiled the first version of the text and that Dharmadeva assisted Merutuṅga in the compilation of the final version.^[6]

The Therāvalī of Merutuṅga is a Paṭṭāvalī that presents a chronology from Mahavira to the arrival of and invasion by the Sakas in India.^[7]

The Vicāraśreṇī is a bhāṣya on his earlier Therāvalī and was likely composed in VS 1363 (1306 CE).^[7]

The Ṣaḍdarśananirṇaya is a general exposition, a doxography of 6 contemporary religious philosophies (darśanas) during Merutuṅga's time: Buddhism, Nyāya, Sāṃkhya, Vaiśeṣika, Mīmāṃsā, and Jainism. It is unique among medieval Jain doxographies in that it presents refutations on non-Jain positions found in the other philosophies.

The work has survived with a bhāṣya, likely written by Merutuṅga himself, and is a charita, a biography, of five great figures in Jainism: Ṛṣabhadeva, Neminātha, Śāntinātha, Pārśvanātha, and Mahāvīra.^[8] Additionally, in the bhāṣya, the original work is named the Upadeśaśataka and the Dharmopadeśaśataka. It is also referred to as the Vivaraṇa.^[8]

As a historian, Merutuṅga's works are generally regarded to be of poor quality, as compared with his contemporaries and with modern historians.^[9][10] Gujarati historian K. M. Munshi states that dates are "the weakest point in Merutuṅga's narratives"^[11] and British Indologist A. K. Warder dismisses Merutuṅga's histories as "completely unreliable" and his narratives as "essentially fiction".^[12]

• Cort, John E. (2001), Jains in the World : Religious Values and Ideology in India, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-513234-3
• Jain, Kailash Chand (1991), Lord Mahāvīra and His Times, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-81-208-0805-8
• Sen, Sailendra Nath (1999) [1988], Ancient Indian History and Civilization (Second ed.), New Age International Publishers, ISBN 81-224-1198-3
• Crouzet, François (1965), Studies in the Cultural History of India, Shiva Lal Agarwala
• Arai, Toshikazu (1978), The Structure of Jaina Kingship as Viewed by the Prabandhacintāmaṇi
• Tawney, Charles Henry (1901), The Prabandhacintāmaṇi or Wishing-Stone of Narratives, The Asiatic Society of Bengal
• Eggermont, P. H. L. (1969), The Purāņa Source of Merutuṅga's List of Kings and the Arrival of the Śakas in India
• Winternitz, Moriz (1996), A History of Indian Literature, Volume 2, translated by Sarma, V. Srinivasa
• Mahesh Singh (1984). Bhoja Paramāra and His Times. Bharatiya Vidya Prakashan. OCLC 11786897.
• A. K. Warder (1992). Indian Kāvya Literature. Vol. VI: The Art of Storytelling. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-81-208-0615-3.

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