Merutuṅga was a medieval scholar from present-day

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and was a

Śvētāmbara The Śvētāmbara (; ''śvētapaṭa''; also spelled ''Shwethambara'', ''Svetambar'', ''Shvetambara'' or ''Swetambar'') is one of the two main branches of Jainism, the other being the ''Digambara''. Śvētāmbara means "white-clad", and refers ...

Jain Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...

monk of the Añcala

Gaccha Gaccha, alternatively spelled as Gachchha, is a monastic order, along with lay followers, of the image worshipping Murtipujaka Svetambara sect of Jainism. The term is also used in the Digambara sect. Etymology ''Gaccha'' literally means "who tr ...

. He is presently most well-known for his

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

text, the '' Prabandhacintāmaṇi'', composed in 1306 CE. He also wrote ''Vicāraśreṇī'' in 1350 CE which describes the chronology of Chāvḍā,

Chaulukya The Chaulukya dynasty (), also Solanki dynasty, was a dynasty that ruled parts of what are now Gujarat and Rajasthan in north-western India, between and . Their capital was located at Anahilavada (modern Patan). At times, their rule extended ...

and Vāghelā dynasties.

Works

''Prabandhacintāmaṇi''

The ''Prabandhacintāmaṇi'' was composed in Vardhamāna (modern-day

Wadhwan Wadhwan, also spelled Vadhwan, is a city and a municipality in Surendranagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Located on the banks of the Bhogavo River, around 3 km from Surendranagar and 111 km from Ahmedabad, Wadhwan is a kn ...

) in VS 1361 Phālguna Śukla 15, a Sunday. 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.

''Therāvalī''

The ''Therāvalī'' of Merutuṅga is a Paṭṭāvalī that presents a chronology from Mahavira to the arrival of and invasion by the

Saka The Saka ( Old Persian: ; Kharoṣṭhī: ; Ancient Egyptian: , ; , old , mod. , ), Shaka (Sanskrit ( Brāhmī): , , ; Sanskrit (Devanāgarī): , ), or Sacae (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples who hist ...

s in

''Vicāraśreṇī''

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

''Ṣaḍdarśananirṇaya''

The ''Ṣaḍdarśananirṇaya'' is a general exposition, a

doxography Doxography ( el, δόξα – "an opinion", "a point of view" + – "to write", "to describe") is a term used especially for the works of classical historians, describing the points of view of past philosophers and scientists. The term ...

of 6 contemporary religious philosophies ( darśanas) during Merutuṅga's time:

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

, Nyāya, Sāṃkhya, Vaiśeṣika,

Mīmāṃsā ''Mīmāṁsā'' (Sanskrit: मीमांसा) is a Sanskrit word that means "reflection" or "critical investigation" and thus refers to a tradition of contemplation which reflected on the meanings of certain Vedic texts.

, and

Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current ...

. It is unique among medieval

doxographies in that it presents refutations on non-Jain positions found in the other philosophies.

''Mahāpuruṣacarita''

The work has survived with a bhāṣya, likely written by Merutuṅga himself, and is a ''charita'', a biography, of five great figures in

: Ṛṣabhadeva, Neminātha, Śāntinātha, Pārśvanātha, and

Mahāvīra Mahavira (Sanskrit: महावीर) also known as Vardhaman, was the 24th ''tirthankara'' (supreme preacher) of Jainism. He was the spiritual successor of the 23rd ''tirthankara'' Parshvanatha. Mahavira was born in the early part of the 6 ...

. Additionally, in the bhāṣya, the original work is named the ''Upadeśaśataka'' and the ''Dharmopadeśaśataka''. It is also referred to as the Vivaraṇa.

Criticism

As a historian, Merutuṅga's works are generally regarded to be of poor quality, as compared with his contemporaries and with modern historians. Gujarati historian

K. M. Munshi Kanhaiyalal Maneklal Munshi (; 30 December 1887 – 8 February 1971), popularly known by his pen name Ghanshyam Vyas, was an Indian independence movement activist, politician, writer and educationist from Gujarat state. A lawyer by profession, ...

states that dates are "the weakest point in Merutuṅga's narratives" and British Indologist

A. K. Warder Anthony Kennedy Warder (8 September 1924 – 8 January 2013) was a British Indologist. His best-known works are ''Introduction to Pali'' (1963), ''Indian Buddhism'' (1970), and the eight-volume ''Indian Kāvya Literature'' (1972–2011). Life Wa ...

dismisses Merutuṅga's histories as "completely unreliable" and his narratives as "essentially fiction".

References

Citations

Sources

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