Chaturvinshati Jin Stuti Ke Praneta Charitrasundar Gani Hi Hai

This Jain text, "Chaturvinshati Jin Stuti ke Praneta Charitrasundar Gani hi Hai" by Vinaysagar, published by ZZ_Anusandhan, delves into the authorship of a specific Jain devotional text. Here's a comprehensive summary in English:

The author, Vinaysagar, begins by reflecting on his childhood desire for his name to appear on books he edited, even without possessing much knowledge or understanding of grammar or literature. During this time, around the age of 16-17, while studying Siddhantakaumudi, he developed an interest in deciphering scripts of ancient manuscripts and inscriptions due to his association with the Nahata brothers. This led him to acquire three previously unknown manuscripts: "Shri Sundar Rachit Chaturvinshati Jin Stutayah," "Punysheel Gani Rachit Chaturvinshati Jinendrastavanani," and "Padmarajgani Rachit Bhavarivarapada Purti-Stotram."

Driven by his childhood insistence, Vinaysagar began editing these manuscripts, despite lacking knowledge of basic textual analysis like "padachchhed" (word separation). He published these as small booklets, feeling a sense of accomplishment in becoming an editor. However, when these books were sent for revision to the late revered Buddhimuni Maharaj, his corrections revealed the extensive inaccuracies, which initially disheartened him, but he continued his efforts.

The manuscript of "Shri Sundar Rachit Chaturvinshati Jin Stutayah" was written by Shri Vallabh Gani and included a Sanskrit commentary (avachuri). The author's name in this manuscript was recorded as Shri Sundargani. However, the identity of this Shri Sundargani was unknown. The introduction to this book was written by the late Shri Agarchandji Nahata, who, in the absence of other works attributed to Shri Sundar, considered this work to be his and placed him in the lineage of Yugapradhan Jinchandrasuri.

The colophon of the manuscript written by Shri Vallabh Gani states that it was composed by "Panditaprakand Shri Sundarmuni" and the commentary was written by "Pandit Shri Vallabhganina." The text itself is described as a rhyming praise (yamakamaya stuti). The colophon clearly indicates the author as Shri Sundarmuni. Shri Vallabh Gani was a disciple of Shri Gyanavimalopadhyaya and had attained the title of Gani before 1654 CE, meaning this manuscript was written after that date.

As time passed, Muni Shri Suyashchandravijayji pointed out that the actual author of this work was Charitrasundargani, and he had obtained a manuscript to support this claim, sending a photocopy to Vinaysagar. Upon reviewing the manuscript, the original author's name was not directly found. However, in the fourth verse of the Veer Jin Stuti, the phrase "Sundaracharasara" appears. The author interprets the word "achara" to mean "charitra" (conduct/character) and, when combined with "Sundar" placed after it, it strongly suggests "Charitrasundar."

Muni Shri Suyashchandravijayji's manuscript is from the 16th century and includes a commentary. Although the writing date is not specified, it is described as leaf number 7, containing five sections, but many leaves are damaged by fire and their edges are broken. The colophon of this manuscript, however, explicitly states: "Thus, the beautiful praises composed by Upadhyaya Shri Charitrasundargani, disciple of Bhattaraka Shri Ratnasinhsuriji, the head of the Shri Brihad Tapagachchha, are complete." It mentions the manuscript contains 196 verses.

However, the end of the commentary reads "Sundarstutyavachuriḥ," which likely means the commentary only mentions "Shri Sundar." This leads Vinaysagar to hypothesize that perhaps Shri Vallabh Upadhyaya, in a manner similar to how he mentioned his own name, might have assumed the author's name to be Shri Sundar (perhaps due to a monastic name or a title like "Nandipada"). This would explain why Shri Vallabh wrote it as the work of "Shri Sundar."

Vinaysagar also states that he himself obtained a 16th-century manuscript which is the original text ("mul gatra") without a commentary, and this manuscript clearly states that it was composed by Charitrasundargani. This confirms that the rhyming praise is indeed by Charitrasundargani. He further suggests that the commentary might be the author's own (swopagya).

The text concludes by stating that Shri Charitrasundargani was a disciple of Shri Ratnasinhsuriji of the Brihad Tapagachchha, who himself composed the Kavya named Shildat in 1747 CE (Samvat 1847). Works of ethical teachings (acharopadesh) are also attributed to him. Therefore, the author concludes that there is no objection to accepting Charitrasundargani of the Tapagachchha as the creator of this work.

In essence, the book argues that the "Chaturvinshati Jin Stuti" (praises of the 24 Jinas) attributed to "Shri Sundar" was actually composed by Shri Charitrasundargani, supported by evidence from later discovered manuscripts that explicitly name him as the author. The earlier attribution to "Shri Sundar" by Shri Vallabh Gani is explained as a possible misunderstanding or misattribution.