Merutunga | |
---|---|
Born | 14th-century |
Died | 14th-century |
Works |
Prabandha-Chintamani Vicharashreni |
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]