Samaysar Natak 01

 Preface

Amongst all Digamber Jain literature the place of Samaysar written by Acharya Kund Kunda is at the top. On this two main commentaries were written by Acharya Amritchandra and Acharya Jaisen which are very famous and highly spiritual. Around 400 years back Pandey Rajmalji wrote Sanskrit commentary upon the Samaysar kalash written by Amritchandracharya  which are highly spiritual and meaningful. Upon this Sanskrit granth with the inspiration of his friends, Pandit Banarasidasji wrote Samaysar Natak in local language in poetry form which was extremely simple and highly successful.

The life of Pandit Banarsidasji itself is quite inspiring. His biography by name Ardha Kathanak is perhaps the first of its kind written in those times wherein he has described the turmoil he has gone through and how he came upon writing this natak. Besides Samaysar natak he is credited with writing Banarasi Vilas , Naammala, Ardh Kathanak, Paramartha Vachanika and Nimitta Upadan chithhi. In natak samaysar also he has added a chapter on gunasthana since he had experienced in his own life that without proper knowledge of the same one could misinterpret and follow a wrong path.

 

Mangalacharan and Introduction

Invocation of Shri Parshwa Nath ji

1.  Who is like the sun for elimination of delusion form darkness of karmas in the world, who has symbol of snake in his feet, who is guide of Moksha Marg, with whose darshan the bhavya jivas start shedding tears from their eyes with pleasure and several bhavya jivas form lakes become pleased, who has conquered KamDeva in battle, who is benedictory to supreme Jain dharma, with whose recollection the fears of disciples get dispelled, whose body is blue like the clouds rich with water, whose crown has seven hoods, who has defeated jiva of Kamatha in his Asura manifestation; such Parshwa Nath Jinaraj is offered salutations by (Pandit) Banarasi Das ji.

2. The one  who are conqueror of all the devilish karmas, who is like a mountain in front of the winds of Kamath, i.e. in spite of the calamity caused by the jiva of Kamath in the form of strong tornado, who is not shaken, who remains stationary in uncorrupted Siddha state, who is like sun for making worldly jiva form lotuses to bloom, who is like a strong wind for blowing away clouds of false beliefs, whose body is blue coloured like the cloud rich with water, who provides equanimity to jivas, who is like cloud to wash away the ashubha karmas, who is revered by all jivas, who eliminates fear of birth-death, who has conquered death, who saves from Narak Gati, who assists in crossing the large and deep worldly ocean, who is like the fire of Rudra for burning the forest of very strong Kam Deva, who makes all the Jivas totally fearless; such Parshwa Nath Bhagawan be hailed !

3. By adorning whose voice in the hearts, the pair of snakes became Dharanendra-Padmavati within moments, the glory of whose name is famous in the form of stone by name of Paras which converts iron to gold, under the influence of the name of my birth place (Banaras) I have observed by soul nature- as if the glow of sun has been revealed; such Parshwa Nath Jinaraj who imparts taste of own experience may provide us with bliss with his great vision.

      Prayer of Siddha Bhagwan

4. Who is permanent and uncorrupted, abode of supreme bliss, extremely beautiful with natural peace, unblemished, pure gyani without any opposition, beginningless-endless; such crown of the lok, Siddha Bhagwan be always be victorious.

   Prayer of Shri Sadhu

5. Who is illuminator of knowledge, ocean of natural soul bliss, mine of jewels of samyaktva etc., overflowing with detachment, who does not desire any support, fearless of death, who practices conduct being detached from sensory subjects, who is ornament to dharma, who is destroyer of Mithyatva, who fights with karmas extremely peacefully; such Sadhu Mahatma who are adorning this earth are offered salutations by Pandit Banarasidas upon their darshan.

Prayer of Samyak Drishti

6. In who heart the differentiation of self and others has been generated, whose mind is cool like sandalwood i.e. there is no heat of passions, who enjoys in Moksha Marg with differentiating knowledge of self and others, who is younger son of Arihant Deva in the world and shortly going to attain Arihant state, for whom the pure Samyak Darshan has been conferred destroying Mithya darshan; deciding the blissful state of such Samyak Drishti jivas, Pandit Banarsidas offers salutations with folded hands.

7. Who has right knowledge of own soul and true affection towards Moksha substance, who is true in heart, who speaks truth and are real Jains, who does not have any opposition with any one, who does not have spirit of oneness with body, who is explorer of the soul nature, who is neither Anu Vrati nor Maha Vrati, who always witnesses within own heart attainment of soul benediction, capability of soul power and enhancement of soul qualities, who is adorned with internal Lakshmi, who is servant of Jinaraj, who is detached from the world, who is always blissful with soul peace; Samyak Drishti jiva is possessor of such qualities.

8. In whose heart the differentiation of self and others has been revealed like that of Ganadhar, who destroys Mithyatva being exhilarated with soul experience, who believes the true independent bliss to be real bliss, who has unshakable faith in own knowledge etc. qualities, who adopts own Samyak darshan etc. nature within himself, who separates the eternally mixed jiva and ajiva like that achieved by alum in muddy water, who makes efforts for enhancement of soul power and illuminate knowledge ; such samyak Drishti only crosses the worldly ocean.

Characteristics of Mithya Drishti

9. The one who is unaware of the nature of reality, whose words are of the form of Mithyatva and gets into argument taking sides with Ekant (singularity), forgetting self with the pride of his Mithya Gyan who does not set foot properly on ground and contemplates of brawl only, shaken by the karmas keeps oscillating in the world i.e. does not get rest anywhere and keeps floating like a leaf in wind, who is always heated with anger, soiled with greed, speaks rudely with pride and has deceit in heart; such self destroyer and great Papi manifests in Mithyatva form.

10. Offering salutations to Siddha Bhagwan and Jewel trio form Moksha Marg and with their grace , I author this Natak Samaysar in local language.

Description of the poet

11. My nature is always conscious form which is  incomparable and Siddha form without any shape. However due to deep darkness of Moha, I was blinded. Now I have witnessed the illumination of knowledge hence I author this Samaysar Natak Granth, with whose grace the Moksha Marg is attained and birth -death i.e. the worldly stay gets eliminated soon.

Humbleness of the poet

12. Just as some fool tries to swim across the ocean with the power of his arms abandoning the boat, or some dwarf jumps high to pluck a fruit from the tree on the mountain, or some child trying to grab the image of moon from the water with his hands, in the same way myself dim-witted has started this great attempt of Natak Samaysar , the wise ones would laugh and call me mad.

13. Just as someone makes a hole in a jewel by means of diamond then a silk string can be inserted in it, in the same way scholar Swamy Amrit Chandra Acharya has simplified Samaysar with his commentary. Due to this myself, dim witted has understood it. Or, just as  the type of language is spoken by the people of country, the same way is learnt by their children; in the same way I have understood by the tradition of Gurus, and my mind is intent upon stating it.

Poet says that with the worship of bhagwan I have attained the intellect

14. In my heart such devotion for Bhagwan exists which sometimes removes the wrong knowledge with the right knowledge, sometimes illuminates the heart in the form of pure flame, sometimes makes heart compassionate, sometimes with desire of experience makes the eyes stationary, sometimes appears before Prabhu in the form of prayer, sometimes speaks strotra in sweat voice, it thus acts according to its state.

Glory of Natak Samaysar is described

15. This natak Samaysar is like a ladder for climbing towards Moksha, This vomits the corruptions of the form of Karmas. In the waters of its taste the scholars get immersed like salt. This is mass of qualities of Samyak darshan etc. which is simple means for attainment of salvation. Describing its glory even Indra feels ashamed. Those who have attained the feathers of the form of this Granth, they fly in the knowledge form sky. Those who do not have such feathers of the form of this Granth, they keep getting trapped in the miseries of the world.  This granth is pure like pure gold, vast like form of Vishnu. Listening to this Granth opens the doors of the heart.

Description of experience

16. I shall narrate the shuddha nishchaya naya, shuddha vyavahara naya and Atmanubhava (soul experience) cause for salvation here.

Characteristics of experience

17. The peace that is provided by the contemplation of soul substance and its meditation and the bliss that is attained by tasting the essence of soul, that is described as Anubhava (experience).

Glory of experience

18. The Anubhava (experience) is like Chintamani jewel, well of peace extract, path of salvation and itself is salvation form.

19. The extract of experience is described as life saving medicine, the practice of experience is a pilgrimage, the grounds of experience are called fertile earth, experience fetches one from Narak and takes him to swarga-moksha. Its enjoyment is like KaamDhenu and Chitraveli ( Kalpa Vriksha ), its taste is like that of food having five types of tastes. It destroys karmas and joins one with the supreme state. There is no other dharma same as this.

Nature of Jiva Dravya

20. The form of Jiva dravya is described- It is conscious form, having infinite qualities, infinite paryayas (manifestations), infinite power, non-corporeal, indivisible, all pervasive ( from aspect of knowledge it is all pervasive in lok-aloka)

Characteristics of Pudgala dravya

21. Pudgala dravya is paramanu form, equivalent to one Pradesh of Akash, having cubical shape with touch, taste, smell, colour qualities.

Characteristics of dharma dravya

22: Just as water assists in movement of fish, in the same way dharma dravya assists in movements of Jiva and Pudgala.

Characteristics of adharma dravya

23: Just as pilgrims sit in the shade in the summer, in the same way  adharma dravya is nimitta for stationary state of Jiva and Pudgala.

Characteristics of Akash dravya

24. Within whose stomach all the substances are existent, which supports all the dravyas ; that is Akash dravya.

Characteristics of Kaal dravya

25. The one which is nimitta ( catalytic agent) for generation of new state of all the dravyas with evaporation of previous paryayas without destruction of the substance; such characteristics of manifestations belongs to Kaal dravya.  

Description of Jiva

26. The own qualities of Jiva are as follows: immersion in veetrag (detached) bhava, Oordhwa gaman ( upwards movement), knowing nature, enjoyment of blissful nature, tastes of happiness-unhappiness and consciousness.

Description of Ajiva

27. Body, mind, speech, insentience, joining of one with another, lightness, heaviness, movement – all these are manifestations of ajiva dravya called pudgala.

Description of Punya

28. The one which is bonded with Shubha(auspicious) bhavas, takes one to swarga etc. and provides worldly pleasures, that is punya substance.

Description of Pap

29. The one which is bonded with Ashubha (inauspicious)  bhavas, makes one fall into lower gati and provides miseries in the world, that is pap substance.

Description of Asrava

30. With fruition of karmas the manifestations of yoga along with ragas causes new karmas to be drawn; that is called Asrava substance.

Description of Samvar

31. The one which gets detached with the activities of yoga by attaining upayogas of the form of gyan-darshan and blocks asrava ; that is known as Samvar substance.

Description of Nirjara

32. The earlier accrued karmas, which have completed their duration and are now ready for shedding,  are known as Nirjara substance.

Description of Bandh

33. The new karmas which in conjunction  with the previous karmas  get bonded strongly, enhancing the tradition of karma power, that is known as Bandh substance.

Description of Moksha

34.  The karmas which have completed their duration and their bandh state has been destroyed with purification of soul qualities, that is known as Moksha substance.

Names of Substance

35. Bhava, Padartha, samaya, dhan, tattva, vitta, vasu, dravya, dravina, arth etc. are names of substance.

Names of shuddah jiva dravya

36. The names of shudddha jiva are as follows: Param Purush Parameshwara, Param Jyoti, Para Bramha, Poorna, Param, Pradhan, Anadi, Anant, Avyakta, Avinashi, Aja, Nirdwanda, Mukta, Mukunda, Amalan, Nirabadh, Nigam, Niranjan, Nirvikar, Nirakar, Sansar shiromani, Sugyan, Sarva darshi, Sarvagya, siddha, swamy, shiva, dhani, naath, Ish, Jagadish, Bhagwan .

Names of Jiva dravya in general

37. The names of Jiva dravya are : Chidanand, Chetan, Alaksh, Jiva, Samaysar, Buddha roopa, Abuddha, ashuddha, Upayogi, chidroopa, swayambhoo, chinmurty, dharmavant, pranavant, prani, jantu, bhoota, bhavabhogi, gunadhari, kalakari, bheshadhari, angdhari, sangdhari, yogdhari, yogi, Chinmaya, akhand, hansa, akshar, atmaram, karma-karta, paramviyogi.

Names of Akash

38. Kham, vihay, ambar, gagan, antariksha, jagdham, vyom, viyat, nabh, meghpath – these are names of Akash.

Names of Kaal

39. Yam, Kratanta, antak, tridash, aavarti, mrityu sthan, pranharan, Aditya tanaya- these are names of Kaal.

Names of Punya

40. Punya, sukrata, Oordhwavadan, akararog, Shubha karma, sukhdayak, samsara phala, Bhagya, bahirmukha, dharma- these are names of punya.

Names of Pap

41. Pap, Adhomukh, ain, adha, kamp, rog, dukhdham, kalil, kilvish, kalush, durita- these are names of ashubha karmas.

Names of Moksha

42. Siddha Kshetra, Tribhuvan Mukut, shivathal, avichal sthan, moksha, mukti, vaikuntha, shiva, pancham gati, nirvana- these are names of Moksha.

Names of Buddhi (intellect)

43. Pragya, dhishana, semushi, dhee, medha, mati, buddhi, surati, Manisha, Chetana, aashaya, ansh and vishuddhi- these are names of Buddhi.

Names of scholar person

44-45. The names of scholar person are as follows: Nipuna, Vichakshana, tribudh, buddha, vidyadhar, vidwan, patu, pravina, pandit, chatur, sudhi, sujan, matiman, kalavant, kovid, Kushal, suman, Daksha, dhimant, gyata, Sajjan, bramhavida, tagya, gunijan and sant.

Names of Munishwara

46. Muni, Mahant, Tapas, Tapi, bhikshuk, charitradham, yati, tapodhan, sanyami, vrati, sadhu and rishi – these are names of Muni.

Names of Darshan

47. Darshan, Vilokan, dekhna, avalokan, dragchal, lakhan, Drishti, nirikshana, jovana, chitavan, chahan, bhaal- these are names of darshan.

Names of Gyan and Charitra

48. Gyan, bodh, avagam, manan, jagat Bhanu, jagat gyan- these are names of gyan. Samyam, charitra, Acharan, charan, Vritta, thirvan- these are names of charitra.

Names of satya (truth)

49. Samyak, satya, amogha, sat, nihsandeha, niradhar, theek, yathartha, uchit, tathya- these are names of satya (truth) . Applying “a” as prefix makes them names of jhooth (lies).

Names of Jhooth (lies)

50. Ayathartha, Mithya, Mrisha, Vritha, Asatya, Aleek, mudha, mogha, nihphal, vitath, anuchit, asat, atheek- these are names of jhooth.

Twelve adhikars (chapters) of Natak samaysar

51. The names of twelve chapters of Natak Samaysar are as follows: Jiva, Ajiva, Karta-karma, punya-pap, asrava, samvar, nirjara, bandh, moksha, sarva vishuddhi, syadvad and sadhya sadhak. This great granth is dravyanuyoga form and separates soul from conjunction of other dravyas, thus directing it to Moksha Marg. This Natak (drama) of soul strengthens the supreme peaceful flavour, cause of samyak gyan and samyak charitra which has been described by Pandit Banarasi dasji in verse form.

Continued……