The Dhyanastava is a poem of one hundred stanzas, composed by Bhaskaranandi for the sake of his own concentration of mind. In its form it is a prayer addressed to Jina-Deva. It has hundred verses like the Jhapajj hayana Dhyanaśataka in Prakrit (attributed to Jina-bhadra) which has been well-known in the South (being quoted in Dhavala) and to which it is indebted. It is based on his other work called Tattvarthauptti, a commentary on Umasvami's Tattvärthadhigamasütra, of which there are, according to Jinaratnakosa, nearly forty commentaries. In this introduction, I would like to give a short outline of this poem first, then, while discussing the relation between Tallvarthaurtli and Dhyānastava, I would like to bring up the problem of our "so little known" author, who probably flourished in the early 12th century.
The Dhyanastava, here presented in translation, is based on the palm leaf MS. No. 755 in Moodbidri. It was transcribed from Kannada script into Devanagari by sri B. Devakumar Jain, which was arranged for me by Dr. A. N. Upadhye, without whom this small piece of translation, which was also made under his guidance, could not have been possible, and to whom goes my humblest gratitude. I restricted myself to verifying the date of our author. My deficiency in knowledge might have made various mistakes in this study, which, I hope, shall be kindly corrected by the scholars concerned. After my text was finalised and my translation also ready, my attention was drawn to the Jaina Siddhanta Bhaskara, XI, p. 113 and XII, p. 54. 1-9 (Arrah 1944-46) where Pt. K Bhujabali Shastri has described the Moodbidri MSS. (possibly the same of which a transcript was sent to me) and also given the text of the Dhyanastava.
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