पाटीगणित (श्रीधराचार्य - प्राचीन संस्कृत टीका एवं प्रो. कृपाशंकर शुक्ल सविस्तार व्याख्या)

INTRODUCTION xxxv
of the Pāṭīgaṇita-sâra, but nowhere does he give out the name
of his father, mother, or teacher, or the time and place of his
birth and literary activity. Later writers, too, have thrown
little light on these aspects of his life. The determination of his
time and place is, therefore, a very difficult problem. In the
following sections we have endeavoured to ascertain as much
about his life as could be possible on the basis of circumstantial
evidence furnished by his works or by a comparative study of
his works with those of other writers of known time and
place.
5·1. A Saivite Hindu. In the opening stanza of the
Pātīgaṇita, Śrīdharâcârya pays homage to the Unborn God, the
cause of creation, preservation, and maintenance of the worlds.
The commentator identifies this Unborn God with God
Maheśvara or Śiva, who is endowed with five functions
(pañcakṛtya), viz., creation (sṛṣṭi), preservation (sthiti), destruc-
tion (saṁhâra), kindness (anugraha), and disappearance (tirodhâ-
na).¹ In the opening stanza of the Pātīgaṇita-sâra, Śrīdhar-
âcârya pays homage to God Śiva by name. Hence it is clear
that he was a devotee of God Śiva. This conclusion is
furthermore corroborated by the inclusion in the Pātīgaṇita of
an example which relates to the worship of the five faces of
God Śiva. (See Ex 89-90). This, it may be added, is the
only example in the works of Śrīdharâcârya that has reference
to a god.
5·11. Not a Jaina. N. C. Jaina says that in the
opening stanza of the Triśatikā, in a palm-leaf manuscript in
Kannaḍa, discovered in a Jaina library in Karnatak,
there is found to occur the word jinam in place of śivaṁ, and
so he thinks that Śrīdharâcârya was a Jaina and not a Saivite
¹ Cf. Âryavidyâsudhâkara by Yajñeśvara Cimaṇa Bhatta, edited with
notes, etc., by MM. Pandit Śivadatta D. Kudâla, published by Motilal
Banarsidas, Lahore (1923), p. 131, where we have the following verse
giving the five functions of God Mahaśvara :
पञ्चविधं तत्कृत्यं सृष्टिस्थितिसंहारतिरोभावाः ।
तद्वदनुग्रहकरणं प्रोक्तं सततोदितस्यास्य ।