Gommatsara Jiva-Kanda (Sacred Books of the Jainas)

The Author.

The age, date, and other biographical details of the author, Shri Nemichandra Siddhanta Chakravarti, need not be repeated here, as they are dealt with at length by the learned Professor S. C. Ghosal, M.A., LL.B., in the first volume of the Sacred Books of the Jainas, entitled Dravya Samgraha. He flourished about 1000 A.D.

Siddhanta Chakravarti

The saintly author is called the Siddhanta Chakravarti, or the "Emperor of Jaina Scriptures."

According to Jaina geography, a Karma Bhumi (or region where human beings depend for their livelihood upon work, such as agriculture) has six parts: one Arya Khanda, or the part peopled by noble, religious, and meritorious people, and five Mlechchha Khandas, peopled by the rest of the inhabitants of the Karma Bhumi. The extreme northern and southern countries—Airavata and Bharata respectively—and the 32 countries of Videha in the middle of Jambu Dvipa are such Karma Bhumis. A Chakravarti is the king of the capital of Arya Khanda of Bharata or Airavata. He advances, conquers all his neighbors, and by his prowess and piety brings all the five Mlechchha Khandas under his rule, becoming the sole emperor of all the six parts of Bharata Kshetra.

Similarly, the Jaina scriptures are only an infinitely expressed portion of an inexpressible, all-grasping omniscience, which comprehends all the attributes and all modifications of all substances in all ages—past, present, and future—from beginningless time to endless eternity. A very small account of these scriptures is given in Jiva Kanda Gathas 348 and following.

Shri Nemichandra was the Siddhanta Chakravarti because he had conquered all the realms of the known knowledge of the sacred books. He was called the Emperor because, like a Chakravarti conquering the six parts of Bharata, he had mastered the famous authoritative works such as Dhavala, composed by Bhutabali and Pushpadanta, the disciples of Arahatbali, some seven centuries after Lord Mahavira. This work consists of six parts: “Jiva Sthana,” “Kshudraka Bandha,” “Bandha Swami,” “Vedanakhanda,” “Vargana-Khanda,” and “Manabandha.” Gatha 397 of Karma Kanda may be quoted here:

Just as a Chakravarti monarch conquers six parts of the country by his Chakra (discus) weapon, so I have mastered the six parts of Dhavala and the other works by my weapon of intellect.