Candranandas Date

Here is a comprehensive summary of the provided Jain text, "Candrananda's Date" by Ashok Aklujkar:

The article addresses the dating of Candrananda, a commentator on the Vaiseṣika-sūtras. While acknowledging the valuable scholarly edition of Candrananda's commentary (Vrtti) by Muni Śrī Jambūvijayajī and the accompanying introduction by Professor Anantalal Thakur, Aklujkar notes that neither scholar was able to precisely date Candrananda beyond stating that he followed Uddyotakara (who lived in the 5th or 6th century AD).

Aklujkar proposes that there is evidence to place the lower limit of Candrananda's lifetime in the tenth century AD. He bases this argument on the fact that Helārāja, a philosopher and poetician generally assigned to the tenth century AD (and likely a senior contemporary of Abhinava-gupta), quotes passages from Candrananda's Vrtti.

The article presents four specific examples of these quotations:

• (a) A passage from Candrananda's commentary on Vaiseṣika-sūtra 2.2.14, which discusses the definition of directions.
• (b) A passage from Candrananda's commentary on Vaiseṣika-sūtra 2.2.16 (which is the same as the sūtra quoted by Helārāja, with a slight numbering variation in different recensions), explaining the origin of the term "east" based on the sun's conjunction.
• (c) A passage from Candrananda's commentary on Vaiseṣika-sūtra 2.2.17 (also the same as the sūtra quoted by Helārāja, with a numbering variation), linking the names of other directions (south, west, north) to the sun's conjunction.
• (d) A passage from Candrananda's commentary on Vaiseṣika-sūtra 2.2.18 (again, the same as the sūtra quoted by Helārāja, with a numbering variation), indicating that intermediate directions are explained in a similar manner.

Additionally, Aklujkar points out that a quotation, "prana-mukho 'nnani bhunjita," is found in the works of both Helārāja and Candrananda, further strengthening the connection.

Based on this evidence, Aklujkar concludes that Candrananda's lifespan must be placed between the fifth or sixth century AD and the tenth century AD.