First page with peacocks

The title Ṣaṣṭi-śataka – One Hundred and Sixty – is a reference to the number of verses which make up the work. Its purpose is to give basic notions of right faith, good conduct, good teachers and so on, guiding the reader through the vivid atmosphere of controversies at the time the author lived, in the 12th century.

During that time the lax behaviour of the caitya-vāsins and the rigorous asceticism that reacted against it created high tension. This led prominent pontiffs of the Kharatara-gaccha mendicant order to try reforming corrupt practices. Nemi-candra, for instance, refers to the ‘tenth wonder’, which was that undisciplined monks were respected, a theme of this period.

A lay follower of the Kharatara-gaccha, Nemi-candra Bhaṇḍāgārika or Bhaṇḍārī lived in Maroṭa, a village in the Marwar region of Rajasthan. He is known for the fact that his son took initiation with Jinapati-sūri (V.S. 1210–1277) and later became the prominent pontiff Jineśvara-sūri (V.S. 1245–1331). Nemi-candra Bhaṇḍārī was influenced by the works of Jinavallabha-sūri, whose name occurs in a few verses of the present work. In addition, he wrote an Apabhraṃśa poem of praise for him, as well as a Prakrit hymn dedicated to Pārśvanātha or Lord Pārśva.

In the present manuscript the Prakrit verses are explained in a Sanskrit commentary. The format of the manuscript is pañca-pāṭha. Here the main text is written in the middle and the commentary is written in the margins around it. The commentary must be read in the following order:

1. above
2. right margin
3. left margin
4. below.