Ratnakaranda śrāvakācāra

Ratnakaranda śrāvakācāra is a Jain text composed by Aacharya Samantbhadra Swamy (second century CE), an acharya of the Digambara sect of Jainism. Aacharya Samantbhadra Swamy was originally from Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu. Ratnakaranda śrāvakācāra is the earliest and one of the best-known śrāvakācāra.

Ratnakaranda śrāvakācāra
Ratnakaranda Shravakachara
English translation of the Ratnakaranda śrāvakācāra (1917) by Champat Rai Jain
Information
ReligionJainism
AuthorAacharya Samantbhadra Swamy
LanguageSanskrit
Period2nd Century CE

A śrāvakācāra discusses the conduct of a Śrāvaka or Jain lay practitioner. Hiralal Shastri mentions 29 such texts from 2nd century CE to modern times.[1]

Overview edit

First verse of the Ratnakaranda śrāvakācāra is dedicated to Vardhamāna Mahāvīra, the 24th Tirthankara:[2]

Namāh śri Vardhamāna-e nirdhutakalilātmane
Sālokānāma trilokānāma yadā-vidyā darpanāyate! (1-1)

Tr.- I bow to Śri Vardhamāna Mahāvīra who has washed off [all] the impurities of karmic filth from His Soul, [and] In Whose Perception scintillate the three Worlds and the infinity of Space, as in a mirror !

Chapters edit

Seven chapters or parts of the Ratnakaranda śrāvakācāra are:

  1. Right Faith
  2. Characteristics of Right Knowledge
  3. Anuvrata
  4. Guņa vratas
  5. Śikşā vratas
  6. Sallekhanā
  7. Eleven Pratimas

Translation edit

Ratnakaranda śrāvakācāra was first translated in English language in 1917 by Champat Rai Jain. It was named "The Householder's Dharma" which means the conduct of a householder.

Notes edit

  1. ^ Shravakachara Samgraha, Part 4, Pages Ka-Kha, Hiralal Shastri, Jivaraj Jain Granthmala, 1998
  2. ^ Jain 1917, p. 1.

References edit

  • Jain, Champat Rai (1917), The Ratna Karanda Sravakachara, The Central Jaina Publishing House
  • P. S. Jaini, Reviewed work(s): Jaina Yoga: A Survey of the Mediaeval Śrāvakācāras by R. Williams, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 27, No. 3 (1964)
  • Jaina yoga: a survey of the mediaeval śrāvakācāras, Volume 1 of Lala Sunder Lal Jain research series, Author R. Williams, Edition 3, Publisher Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1991
  • RATNAKARANDA SRAVAKACARA (Sanskrit-Hindi) By Acarya Samantbhadra Translated into Hindi with 2 Appendices by Dr. Jaykumar Jalaj Preface by Dr. Paul Dundas Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 3

External links edit