Dr. Jacobi and Vasicandanakappo

Summary

Muni Mahendra Kumar ‘Dvitiya’s article “Dr. Jacobi and Vasicandanakappa” engages in a close philological and hermeneutic analysis of the Jain phrase vāsi‑candana‑kappa (vāsi‑candana‑kalpa), which appears in the Uttarādhyayana Sūtra, Kalpa Sūtra and other canonical texts describing the ascetic discipline (sādhana) of high‑level Jain monks. The discussion arises from the author’s work editing the writings of Jayācārya, a fourth pontiff of the Jain Śvetāmbara Terāpanth sect, where he encountered the term vāsi‑candana‑sāmya and turned to Dr. Hermann Jacobi’s translations for guidance. Jacobi had translated vāsi as “a bad smelling substance” and rendered the phrase as the ascetic’s indifference to bad smells (vāsi) and good smells (sandalwood, candana). The article summarises Jacobi’s translation of the verses describing the ascetic Mrgaputra’s equanimity during self‑mortification and notes that the Avacūrṇi commentary similarly interprets vāsi as ordure. Mahendra Kumar argues that both translators misinterpret vāsi. By surveying multiple Jain scriptures—the Uttarādhyayana Sūtra, Kalpa Sūtra, Jambūdvīpa Prajñapti Sūtra, Jambūdvīpa Prajñapti Sūtra with Avacūrṇi, Praśna Vyākaraṇa Sūtra, Uvavaī Sūtra, Mahābhārata and various niryuktis and ṭīkās—the author shows that vāsi consistently denotes an adze, chisel or carpenter’s hatchet. Commentaries by Laksmi Vallabha, Shanti Sāgara, Vinaya Vijaya, Abhayadeva Sūri and others are quoted at length to demonstrate that the phrase describes equanimity towards a person who injures one with an adze and a person who anoints one with sandalwood; in other words, the ascetic remains balanced in the face of pain and pleasure. Mahendra Kumar provides extensive lexical evidence from Sanskrit and Prakrit lexicons (Amarakośa, Abhidhāna Cintāmaṇi, Śabda‑Kalpadruma), dictionaries by Monier‑Williams, V. S. Apte and H. T. Seth, and Jain encyclopaedias such as Abhidhāna Rājendra Kośa, all of which define vāsi as an adze or carpenter’s tool. He also cites Sanskrit poetry (Subhāṣita Ratna Bhāṇḍāgāra) and Rajasthani verse to show that the combination of vāsi and candana serves as a metaphor for forgiving even those who harm us. The article systematically refutes each interpretation that treats vāsi metaphorically as odour or dwelling and affirms that the literal meaning of vāsi as a carpenter’s adze is essential to understanding the canonical descriptions of ascetic equanimity. By identifying the correct meaning, Mahendra Kumar clarifies a key doctrinal point and underscores the importance of consulting indigenous commentaries and lexicons rather than relying solely on Western translations.