Ṛṣabhapañcāśikā
Literally meaning ‘fifty for Ṛṣabha is a praise of the first Tīrthaṅkara of Jainism Ṛṣabha, in fifty Prakrit verses. Dhanapāla is said to have written this poem after his conversion to Jainism in praise for the first prophet of the Jains. However, it is not solely a song of praise – the first twenty stanzas describe the life of this great Jaina teacher. The remaining 3o stanzas were presumably written in a combination of Prakrit and Sanskrit. According to Dhanapāla, Ṛṣabha was a master in the fields of art, craft, mathematics and scripts. He also taught these to his subjects. He is said to have taught 72 male and 64 female arts and also 100 other crafts including those of warfare, agriculture and trade. Ṛṣabha’s grandson, Namivinami is said to have risen to the position of Vidyādharā or heavenly God, due to his devotion towards Ṛṣabha. Therefore in this Prakrit verse, Dhanapāla gives utmost care to stress on Ṛṣabha’s worship. He tried to indicate that worshipping a guru always bears fruits.
In the poem, Dhanapāla has referred to Nayavāda, the kalās, eg, Avasarpiṇī, and Utsarpiṇī. Dhanapāla also speaks about the seven hells, namely, ‘Ratnaprabhā’, ‘Sarkaraprabhā’, ‘Valūkaprabhā’, ‘Pankaprabhā’, ‘Dhūmaprabhā’, ‘Tamahprabhā’ and ‘Mahātmah’ situated in ‘adholokah’.In his descriptions, Dhanapāla assigned Man and fish into the seventh hell. In his verses, he has also elaborated on the theory of transmigration and rebirth and the numerous lives lived by the soul before it attains nirvana.
Dhanapāla asserts that the soul that is contaminated by perverted attitude becomes conscious and changes itself into the right attitude when it hears the words and salutations of this mantra. Such, he describes is the miraculous power of this mantra.
Dhanapāla eventually concludes the poem with the words – “Thus praised with devotion by me, a man of small understanding only, whose karma is consumed like fuel in the fire of meditation, mayest thou (o Ṛṣabha ) reward me by pure knowledge which a boat to cross the ocean of existence.”
Dhanapāla asserts that the soul that is contaminated by perverted attitude becomes conscious and changes itself into the right attitude when it hears the words and salutations of this mantra. Such, he describes is the miraculous power of this mantra.
Dhanapāla eventually concludes the poem with the words – “Thus praised with devotion by me, a man of small understanding only, whose karma is consumed like fuel in the fire of meditation, mayest thou (o Ṛṣabha ) reward me by pure knowledge which a boat to cross the ocean of existence.”
According to Winternitz, who commented on Dhanapāla’s poetry, he described the poetry as ‘written in a very artificial style, but not without poetical beauty.”
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