The Siddhāntālāpaka – Paragraphs about the Scriptures – is a Śvetāmbara sectarian work, which chiefly discusses issues disputed by the numerous gacchas that emerged from the 12th century onwards. Their subjects are Jain ethics and principles. Quotations from the Śvetāmbara scriptures are used in support of various arguments and are explained and commented upon.
This manuscript unfolds several quotations and points of contention, in what seems to be a disconnected way. There is no colophon so a full investigation of the text is needed to work out the author’s sect. The text has two main parts:
The central design in the centre or at other places in some folios is noteworthy, partly because there are two designs. Either it is in the shape of a yellow diamond surrounded by red, or syllables of the text have been arranged and circled by red so as to produce lozenge shapes. Such things are not rarities, but they point to the care shown in the production of the manuscript as an artefact.
British Library. Or. 2112 ms. B. Haribhadra. Perhaps 15th century
British Library. Or. 2136 ms. B. Śruta-sāgara. 16th century
British Library. Or. 2120 ms. B. Harṣabhūṣaṇa-gaṇi. Perhaps 15th to 16th centuries