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The Praśnottara – Answers to Questions – or Dharma-ratnākara – Ocean of Jewels of the Dharma – is a Śvetāmbara sectarian work, the main concern of which is to refute practices typical of rival monastic orders. Such works emerged parallel to the rise of numerous gacchas from the 12th century onwards. Their subjects are Jain ethics and its principles. These are openly or covertly discussed with the aim of assessing their truth or validity when viewed as part of the contests between different groups. The differences between these gacchas are mainly of practice. The authors of such works largely draw on textual references to show that the practices they defend are rooted in the tradition, and that those of their rivals are innovations coming out of the blue. They usually proceed in two stages:

1. proving wrong their rivals’ practices
2. establishing – pratiṣṭhā or siddhi – the practice they consider valid.

The alternative titles of the work underline this twofold process of argumentation.

Composed in 1627 CE (1684 VS), this work provides a hitherto missing link in the 16th-century controversies surrounding the official hierarchy of the Tapāgaccha and the dissident group led by the scholar mendicant Dharma-sāgara. Originally a disciple of the Tapāgaccha leader Hīravijaya-sūri, Dharma-sāgara separated from him and became a highly controversial figure. Dharma-sāgara died in 1596–97 (1653–54 VS), but the controversies continued after his death, as this work shows. Dharma-sāgara formed his own group, who became known as the ‘Sāgara Group’. Śruta-sāgara, the author of this work, was one of them.

The Praśnottara is an answer to the ‘36 statements’ – jalpa or bola written in Gujarati by Soma-vijaya, who died in 1639–40 CE (1696–97 VS). Soma-vijaya represented the official Tapāgaccha hierarchy and position. Śruta-sāgara undertakes a systematic refutation of each point Soma-vijaya argues. Each of the 36 statements in his work starts with exactly the words or the phrases Soma-vijaya uses. The points of contention relate to:

• problems connected with non-violence in the case of the omniscient being
• the harmful or non-harmful character of certain karmas
• issues of mythology or ethics
• practice relating to worship, dating of festivals and so on.

The answers to the 36 statements can be found in this manuscript as follows:

Efforts to trace references to this work and other manuscripts of the text have come to nothing. The British Library manuscript is precious because it seems to be unique. It deserves a full exploration, which Nalini Balbir plans to prepare. It should help in reconstructing the textual history of controversies and Śvetāmbara sectarian polemics in the 17th century.