Jaina Agamic Literature importance of Right Knowledge

Author(s): Dulichand Jain
Publisher: Z_Mohanlal_Banthiya_Smruti_Granth_012059.pdf
Catalog link: https://jainqq.org/explore/250146/1

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स्वः मोहनलाल बांठिया स्मृति ग्रन्थ
JAINA AGMIC
IMPORTANCE OF RIGHT KNOWLEDGE
LITERATURE
IMPORTANCE OF RIGHT KNOWLEDGE
Thoughts and actions are the two aspects of life. Thought is the subject of intellect, it is based on study, contemplation and concentration. Only that thought is valuable which is based on truth. When such truthful thought is practised in life, it results in right conduct. Therefore, the first requirement of an aspirant is the acquisition of right knowledge. Lord Mahavira said, " " i.e., one who has right knowledge only can pursue the path of righteous conduct. Such a person will have compassion in heart and strength in his mind.
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Dr. Duli Chand Jain Madras
Only that knowledge is true which has been acquired by direct experience. The soul is the source of infinite knowledge but that is obscured by the veil of karmas. When the veil of karmas is removed by austerities and meditation, a person annihilates all the karmas and then the infinite power of soul is manifested. Such souls are called Vitaraga, the perfected souls, who have achieved victory over all conflicts and passions like attachment, aversion and anger. They become Jinas or the conquerors.
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DEFINITION OF AGAMA
The divine utterances of such perfected souls is called the 'Agama'. The Nyayasutra defines the Āgamas as "ATTA "i.e., Agama is that which is told by Apta i.e., authentic personages. Thus the teachings of Jinas are the Jaina Āgamas. In Jaina tradition, the Jinas shower the nectar of divine words only after obtaining omniscience. Their discourses are constructed in Sutra form by their prime disciples known as Gaṇadharas. Such Sūtras are the Agamas, the authentic literature. The Agamas are also defined as that knowledge which has been handed down since times immemorial.
THE ORAL TRADITION
In ancient India, the oral tradition of rote was prevalent. The disciples used to listen to scriptures from their spiritual masters, memorise them and pass it on to their successors. This went on for a long time. The Vedas, the Agamas and the Pittaķas were preserved in this manner. The Vedas were called "Śruti" and the Agamas Śruta in the true spirit of their being passed on by rote. According to Jaina tradition, besides the words of Tirthankaras, the words of other perfected souls including Sthavirs were also regarded as Agamas. Sthavirs may either be Śrutakevalis (those who have mastered all Agamas) or Daspūrvis (those who have mastered the ten Purvas).
COMPILATION OF AGAMIC LITERATURE
History reveals that upto 160 years after the nirvāņa of Lord Mahavira, the oral tradition of Agamas prevailed. However a severe famine for twelve long years struck Magadha (South Bihar) during the reign of Candragupta
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दर्शन दिग्दर्शन
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स्व: मोहनलाल बांठिया स्मृति ग्रन्थ
Maurya. Due to this many monks perished and many dispersed to other areas. The Jaina Sangha began to worry about the safety of holy Agamas. After the famine, the first council of monks was held at Pataliputra (modern Patna) under the leadership of Acarya Sthulibhadra to compile the vest Agamic literature. During this council, eleven Angas were recited, none of the monks present had in their memory the twelth Anga Drstavada. The only monk who had the knowledge of this was Acarya Bhadrabahu, the guru of Sthulibhadra, but he had gone to Nepal to conduct Mahaprāna dhyāna (servere yogic activities) for twelve years. The Jaina congregation then decided to send Acarya Sthulibhadra and his disciple monks to Nepal to acquire the knowledge of ten Drstivāda. Acārya Sthūlibhadra learned the knowledge of ten Purvas from Acarya Bhadrabahu. At that time, he exhibited some special supernatural powers, acquired by him from his guru. When the guru came to know of it, he declined to impart the knowledge of remaining four Purvas to Sthulibhadra. After much persuasion he agreed to impart only the text of the remaining four Purvas but not their imports. Thus, Sthulibhadra could memorise the entire texts but he could learn the meaning of only ten Purvas but not their imports. Thus, Sthūlibhadra could memorise the entire texts but he could learn the meaning of only ten Purvas and not all fourteen Purvas. This was the first attempt to compile the Āgamas and this conference was known as the Pataliputra rendering. However, the Agamic literature was still not written and the basis of safeguarding it was still by oral tradition.
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दर्शन दिग्दर्शन
PRESERVATION OF AGAMAS
The Jaina have always tried hard to preserve their scared literature. However, there is no doubt that the Agamas as told by Lord Mahavira and presented by the Ganadharas (prime disciples) are not found in their complete from today. As the languages of the Agamas was Prākrit, which was the language of the masses, it was but natural for the change to occur even in the rendering of sacred literature. Unlike the Vedic brahmins, the Jainas could not preserve every word of their sacred literature. But it is certain that the portions available today are authentic and close to the preachings of Lord Mahāvira.
Thus till the time of Sthulibhadra, the knowledge of the twelve Angas was intact but after his demise only eleven Angas and a part of the twelth Anga remained available. Sthūlibhadra died 215 years after Lord Mahāvira's nirvana.
As mentioned above, the Jaina literature was composed in Prakrit, which was the spoken language of that time and not constructed by the strict rules of grammar. The ability to memorise perfectly was also weakening. Hence, it was inevitable for linguistic changes to creep in the scriptures.
THE SECOND CONVENTION
To add to the misfortune, another twelve year long famine hit the nother parts of India. In the absence of learning, revising and contemplation, the scriptures began to get lost. In course of time, the need was felt that another attempt should be made to systematize the scriptures. Between 827-840 years of Lord Mahavira's nirvana, a
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स्व: मोहनलाल बाठिया स्मृति ग्रन्थ
second attempt was made. After the famine, under the leadership of Arya Skandila, the Jaina council of Monks met in Mathurā. The monks present compiled those Agamas that they had been able to retain in their memory. In this congtegation also the scriptures were only recited and not written - this was called the Mathuri rendering. It was the second attempt of systematizing the Āgamas. During this same period another great Jain monk. Nāgārjunasuri also invited many monks in Saurāstra in a council and tried to systematize the Agamic literature.
THE THIRD CONVENTION
150 years after the second attempt, a third attempt was made under the leadership of Devardhigani Ksamásramaņa in Valiabhinagar (modern Saurastra). Besides the Agamas orally compiled in the first two councils, other available works and commentaries too were compiled in this council. The differences in the texts compiled during the two councils were reconciled and systematized. This task was undertaken 980 years after Lord Mahavira's Nirvana. The Agamas available today represent the ones accepted and systematized in the third convention. The special feature of this council was that the sacred scriptures were finally written down. The differences occurring in the texts were mentioned and the twelth Anga Drstivāda was declared unavailable as it was not found in the memory of anyone. Devardhigani is reported to have distributed copies of the scriptures to all the centres of scriptural studies which were flourishing in those days.
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AGAMIC LITERATURE
The Agamic literature of the jainas mainly consists of thirty two texts which are divided into three groups of works known as Purvas (older), Angs (inner corpus) and Angabāhyas (outer corpus), all handed down in the ancient language, Ardhamāgadhi.
The Pūrvas : These include fourteen works of great antiquity claimed by the Jainas to go back to the time of Lord Pārsva. Unfortunately, these texts are no longer extant, only a brief description of their content is available in the later literature. The twelve Angas or limbs are as follows : 1. Acāranga, 2. Sūtrakstānga, 3. Sthànānga, 4. Samavayanga, 5. Vyakhyaprajñapti (Bhagavati), 6. Jñatrdharmakatha, 7. Upāsakadasah, 8. Antakyddasah, 9. Anuttara-upapātika, 10. Prasna-vyākarana, 11. Vipākaand, 12. Drstivada-now extinct.
The supplements and the commentaries of these texts are found in the form of Upangas, Chedas, Mūlas and Āvasyakas. The twelve Uparigas are as follows :
1. Aupapātika, 2. Rājpraśniya, 3. Jivājīvābhigama, 4. Prajñāpanā, 5. Suryaprajñapti, 6. Jambūdvipaprajnapti, 7. Candraprajñapti, 8. Nirayávali, 9. Kalpavtamsikaḥ, 10. Puspikāh, 11. Puşpacūlikāh and 12. Vrsņidaśah.
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स्व:मोहनलाल बाठिया स्मति ग्रन्थ
The following are the four Chedasūtras : 1. Vyavahāra, 2. Brhatkalpa, 3. Niśitha, and 4. Dasāsrutaskandha. The following are the four Mülasutras :
1. Daśavaikälika, 2. Uttaradhyayana, 3. Nandi and 4. Anuyogaadvara.
There is only one Avāsyaka.
Thus the 11 Angas, 12 Upāngas, 4 Chedas, 4 Mūlas and one Āvašyaka are 32 in number. There are also 13 Prakirnakas and so the Agamas are 45 in number. Some believe that there are more than 13 Prakirnakas and according to them, the Agamas are 84 in number.
CLLASIFICATION OF AGAMAS
The Agamas cover the knowledge of a vast array of subjects including philosophy, ethics, religion, logic, metaphysics, cosmology and astrology. Arya Rakşitsūri classified the Agamas on the basis of their subject matter into four Anuyogas.
They are as follows: 1. Carana Karanānuyoga:- The subjects of this Anuyoga
are precepts for spiritual development namely right faith, right knowledge, right conduct, self-restraint, celibacy, austerity, vows and the conquest of the senses and passions. The two Angas (Acāranga and Praśnávyakarana). Dasavaikalika Mula Sūtra, four Chedasūtras (Nisitha, Vyavahāra, Branatkalpa and Daśāśruta) and Avasyaka Sutra form the contents of
this Anuyoga. 2. Dharma Kathānuyoga :- This Anuyoga throws light
on the importance of compassion, charity, conduct,
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forgiveness simplicity, modesty and the like. The special feature of this Anuuyoga is the usage of stories and fables as the mode of instruction. The five Angas viz., Jñātsdharmakatha, Upāsaladasāḥ Antakrdasāh, Anuttaraupapātika and Vipāka, the seven upangas viz., Anupapātika, Rājaprasniya, Nirayāvali, Kalpāvatamsikāḥ, Puşpikāḥ, Puşpacūlikāḥ and Vrspidaśāh and Uttarādhyayana Mula Sūtra are covered in this Anuyoga. Ganitānuyoga - This Anuyoga contains all the subjects based on mathematics and calculations. The three upangas viz., Jambūdvipaprajñapti, Chandraprajñapti and Sūryaprajñapti are elabprately dealt with in this Anuyoga. Dravyānuyoga - The metaphysical elements of soul, non-soul and other substancews, the nine tattvas and philosophical principles and elaborated in depth in this Anuyoga.
The four Angas - Sūtrakrtanga, Sthānanga, Samavāyanga and Vyākhyāprajñapti, the two upāngas viz., Jivajivabhigama, Prajñāpanā, the two Mulasūtras viz., Nandi and Anuyogadvāra and some portions of Uttaradhyayana Sūtra are included in this Anuyoga.
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। स्व: मोहनलाल बाठिया स्मृति ग्रन्थ
COMMENTARY LITERATURE
we found an exhaustive commentary literature on the Āgamas in the form of Niryukti, Bhasya, Curni, Tika, Vrttri, Vyakhya and others. These were solely written with the aim of making the study of Agamas simple and intelligible.
However, the Curnis were written in Prākrit as well as Sanskrit, the latter being more prevalent. The Niryuktis and Bhāşyas were written in Prakrit. To make the subject lucid, the mode of stories too 'was adopted in different contents.
This mixed style of writing in both languages is known as Maņi-Praval Nyaya. Just as in a garland of gems and corals, both can be differentiated, so also in the cūrnis, both Sankrit and Prakrit are easily distinguishable. The same style has been adopted in some Tikas too. Agama, Niryukti, Bhāşya, Cūrniand Tika -These together constitute the Pancangi literature.
SIGNIFICANCE OF AGAMIC LITERATURE
The Agamic literature is important not only from the point of view of studying Jaina religion and philosophy, but also to understand the ancient Indian way of life. The Agamas give a complete picture of the social life, religious and spiritual exercises, education, trade and commerce, agriculture, law and order, crime and punishment, structure of society, villages, and cities, transport and communication, art and craft etc. prevalent at that time. Ardhamāgadhi
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Agamas and the Pāli Pitsakas are the two sources available today which present lively picture of the people of India 2500 years ago. It is noteworthy that the message of Jainism and Buddhism was not limited to those two sects only but it spread to all parts of the country in the language of the masses. It is to be noted that Māgdhi Prākrit was later known as Pali.
DIGAMBARA VIEWS ON AGAMAS
The above mentioned Agamas are not accepted by the Digambara sect of Jains. They believe that 683 years after the nirvāņa of lord Mahavira, the entire Agamic literature was lost. However, the loss was not really 'total'. The Digambara first adopted this expression in order to reject the authenticity of scriptures retained by Svetämbaras.
ŞAȚKHANDĀGAMA
The most authentic scripture accepted by the Digambaras is Şafkhandāgama, which is considered to be an equivalent of the Dvadasanga (the twelve Angas). The Digambaras have immense faith in it consider it to be very sacred. Satkhandagama enjoys an esteemed place not only in Jaina literature but in the entire religious and spiritual literature of India for the exhaustive and detailed description of karma of karma and other important theories.
There is no mention of the title Șatkhandagama in the original texts. But the famous commentator Acārya Virasena has discussed the text in six parts, hence it came to be known as Şafkhandāgama.
The Digambaras believe that when most of the Āgamic literature was lost and very little of it was available,
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स्वः मोहनलाल बाठिया स्मृति ग्रन्थ
only Ācārya Dharasena had the knowledge of some of the Angas and Pūrvas. At that time he was engaged in deep meditation in the Candra cave of the Girnar mountain range in Saurāştra. One day he thought that whatever knowledge of the Agamas he had, it should be imparted to some worthy persons to save it from getting lost. At that time a convention was held at Mahimānagari, where many monks had gathered. Acarya Dharasena sent a message to them and expressed his desire to impart the knowledge of the Agamas to worthy scholars.
The monks taking part in the convention realized the importance of the message sent by Acārya Dharasena and sent two worthy monks, Puspadanta and Bhutabali to meet him. Dharasena first put the two to test and when they passed the test, a delighted Dharasena, imparted the knowledge of the Agamas to both of them.
These two monks later authored the Satkhandagama. It is believed that Puspadanta wrote 177 Sūtras of the first chapter and Bhutabali completed the remaining chapter and also wrote from second to sixth chapter comprising 32853 Sutras..
In the Dhavala commentary on 'Satkhandāgama' it is mentioned that the actual author of the text in Lord Mahavira who imparted it to Shri Gautama Ganadhara, his first prime disciple, who later revealed it to his disciples. Finally it was Puspandanta and Bhutabali who manuscripted it.
The entire Jaina congregation rejoiced on the day when Şaškhandagama was completed. It was a Thursday, the 5th day of the bright half of the Jyeşța month of the Hindu almanac. The entire Sangh worshipped the text and to this day it is celebrated as Śruta Panchami and on this
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day the goddess of knowledge and scripture is worshipped by devoted aspirants. DHAVALĂ - COMMENTARY ON ŞATKHANDAGAMA
In the 9th century of Vikram Era, Acarya Virasena wrote the Dhavala Commentary on Satkhandagma and it comprised 72,000 slokas. Acārya Virasena was a profound scholar. He had made an exhaustive study of philosophy and religion in general and Jaina Philosophy and religion in particular. Although the commentary is vast and exhaustive, it is significant due to the deep philosophical thought it presents, the debates that took place between many Indian schools, of thought and as an intellectual investigation of various subjects. Indeed the contribution of Acarya Vírasena is unequalled and incomparable in the field of Indian philosophical thought. KAŞAYA PAHUDA
Another important scripture accepted by the Digmabaras is Kaşaya-Pahūda or Kaşayaprabharta. The author of Kaşaya-Pahuda is Ācārya Gunabhadra. After Şatkhandagāma, Kaşāya-Pahūda is the second important scripture and it is read and revered right from the earlier times. Both of these deal with the Jaina theory of the bondage of the soul and are very comprehensive texts. Acārya Virasena wanted to write a commentary on KaşāyaPahuda too. He started but lived to comment only on a portion of the text and that commentary comprised of 20000 slokas. It is known as Dhavala. After his death, the task was undertaken by his disciple Jinasena. Like his preceptor Acārya Jinasena was also an erudite scholar and an authority in his own right. With sincere devotion, he fulfilled the task of completing the commentary in 40,000 ślokas.
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Thus the entire commentary comprises 60,000 ślokas. It was known a Jayadhavala.
The language of Satkhandagama and Kaşaya Pāhuda is Sauraseni Prakrit. The texts and their commentaries run altogether to some 120000 verses, preserved on palm-leaf manuscripts but in recent years they have been edited and published.
CLASSIFICATION BY DIGAMBARAS
The Digmbaras have also classified the Agamic literature into four groups according to their subject matter which are looked upon as Jain-Vadas. Their classification as the four Anuyogas is as follows :1. Prathamānuyoga - Padmapurāna by Ravisena
Harivansapurāna byJinasena Adipuraņa byJinasena
Uttarapurana by Guņabhadra. 2. Karaņānuy - Suryaprajñapti Candraprajñapti
and Jayadhavalā. 3. Dravyānuyoga - Pravachanasāra, Samayasāra
Niyamasāra & Pancăstikāya by Kundakunda. TattvarthaSūtra by Umasvati and commentarieson Tattvārtha SūtraAptamimams
by Samantabhadra, and other commentarie by Pajyapada,
Akalanka and Vidyananda. 4. Caraņānuyoga - Mūlachāra byvaltakera
Trivarn Ratnakarandasrāvakācar.
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Collecttively these expositions of the two Jaina schools constitute one of the greatest collections of non-vedic Indian scriptures.
THE CONTENTS OF THE AGAMAŞ
1.
The contents of some of the major Agamas are as follows:
Acāranga : The most ancient and important Anga, this forms the low books of Jaina monks and nuns. It is accorded great reverence because its exposition of law forms the very foundation of mendicant conduct. It explains five Samitis (vigilance) and three Guptis (restraints). It also contains a very authoritative account of Lord Mahavira's spiritual practices
Sūtraktänga: Contains details of Jaina philosophical knowledge, humility, reverence, the acceptable and unacceptable objects, monastic initiation, ordination and critical examination of other philosophical schools of that period. Sthånānga: It is a kind of encyclopedia, it considers numerical description of scriptural topics. It gives details of subjects ranging from one to ten. Samavāyanga : It is a continuation of the third. It preserves some records of twelve Angas and discusses the totality of every entity with respect to its substance. space, time and modes. Bhagavati : It is the most voluminous work of the entire Agamic literature. It contains countless question of Indrabhūti Gautama and answers by Lord Mahāvira. It is also of great historical importance as it contains debates held by several scholars and lay
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। स्व: मोहनलाल बाठिया स्मृति ग्रन्थ
people with Lord Mahavira about the existence of the soul, analysis of various philosophical tenets and
narration of the incidents of that period. 6. Jñatrodharmakatha : Jaina faith has been preached
through a large collection of narrative and didactic stories. Upäsakadasah: Gives an exemplary account of the biographies of ten lay-men, who took to vows and led and austere life. Antakyddasah : Life sketch of those personalities (monks as well as householders) who attained final emancipation by practising rigorous austerities. Aupapātika : Life sketch of those aspirants who led a pious life, practised austerities and attained
heavenly bliss. 10. Vipaka : This work deals with the irrevocable law of
karma, the results that follow from good and bad
deeds performed in previous lives. 11. Daśäsrutaskaridha (Kalpasūtra): This text highlights
the Jaina way of life and includes a life sketch of Lord
Mahāvira and other Tirthankaras. 12. Dasavaikälika: It contains ten chapters on a variety
of subjects pertaining to the life and spiritual practices of a monk. Here the whole Jaina philosophy is
explained in a nutshell. 13. Uttaradhyayana : It is the most popular text on Jaina
anthology and is an invaluable guide to spiritual seekers, it is claimed to be the last sermon of Lord Mahavira. Uttarădhyayana is a mixture of dialogues, parables and catechisms, mostly in verse. The tenets of Jaina conduct, ethics, spirituality and philosophy are explained in very lucid manner.
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14. Nandi : The text explains the nature of knowledge
and details of the various kinds of knowledge in a very
interesting style. 15. Jambūdviparajapti and 16. Sūryaaprajñapti : These two texts deal respectively
with cosmology, movement of the sun and the moon
etc. 17. Āvasyaka Niryukti : The details of debates that
scholars of other schools had with Lord Mahāvira. 18. Avasyaka Cūrni : This commentary on Āva'syaka
illustrates the various incidents that took place in Lord
Mahavira's life. 19. Višeşavasyaka : Philosophical principles of almost
all philosophical schools.
This short account of Jaina Agamic tradition gives us some idea of the immense vitality which has pervaded this tradition throughout its history. THE MESSAGE OF INSPIRATION
The Agamas cover a vide range of topics which serve not only an ideological purpose but are also of practical importance. The importance of vows, right faith, right knowledge, right conduct, self-restraint, austerity, celibacy, conquest of senses, charity, compassion, reflections, righteousness, auspicious acts, stoppage and annihilation of karmas, emancipation, etc. have been very magnificently illustrated.
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स्वः मोहनलाल बॉठिया स्मृति ग्रन्थ PS The thoughts conveyed in the Agamas about the importance of noble character, spiritual accomplishment, simple living, vigilance, etc. are inspiring and thought provoking. These truths which were propounded centuries ago continue to inspire mankind to lead a pure and virtuous life. 2010_03