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Medieval scholar From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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]
Merutunga | |
---|---|
Born | 14th-century |
Died | 14th-century |
Works | Prabandha-Chintamani Vicharashreni |
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]