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:

36 answers and folio numbers

36 answers	Folio detail
Number 1	starts on folio 1 verso
Number 2	ends on folio 27 recto line 9
Number 3	starts on folio 27 recto line 9
Number 4	starts on folio 28 recto line 4
Number 5	starts on folio 32 recto line 1
Number 6	starts on folio 36 verso line 5
Number 7	starts on folio 49 recto
Number 8	starts on folio 53 recto line 2
Number 9	ends on folio 55 verso line 2
Number 10	starts on folio 55 verso line 2
Number 11	starts on folio 55 verso line 14
Number 12	starts on folio 59 recto line 5
Number 13	starts on folio 59 verso line 5
Number 14	starts on folio 60 recto line 15
Number 15	starts on folio 62 recto line 1
Number 16	starts on folio 63 recto line 11
Number 17	starts on folio 63 verso line 11
Number 18	starts on folio 64 recto line 4
Number 19	starts on folio 64 recto line 11
Number 20	starts on folio 64 verso line 6
Number 21	starts on folio 65 verso line 13
Number 22	starts on folio 66 recto line 11
Number 23	starts on folio 66 verso line 7
Number 24	starts on folio 68 recto line 11
Number 25	starts on folio 68 verso line 11
Number 26	starts on folio 69 verso line 1
Number 27	starts on folio 70 verso line 15
Number 28	starts on folio 71 recto line 6
Number 29	starts on folio 71 verso line 2
Number 30	starts on folio 71 verso line 17
Number 31	starts on folio 72 recto line 6
Number 32	starts on folio 72 verso line 2
Number 33	starts on folio 72 verso line 7
Number 34	starts on folio 72 verso line 15
Number 35	starts on folio 73 recto line 5
Number 36	starts on folio 73 verso line 9

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.