Agam 02 Ang 02 Sutrakrutang Sutra

SR No.: 001023
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jambuvijay, Dharmachandvijay
Publisher: Mahavir Jain Vidyalay
Publication Year: 1978
Total Pages: 475
Language: Prakrit
Classification: Book_Devnagari, Agam, Canon, Metaphysics, & agam_sutrakritang
File Size: 8 MB

Page 74

FOREWORD
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example, it is stated that the Ācāranga (the first śrutaskandha alone) 19 has eighteen thousand padas, the Sūtrakstānga has thirty-six thousand padas,20 so on and so forth. We come across different definitions of a pada, the one being "in this context a pada means that which yields meaning" (= 'iha yaträrthopalabdhis tat padam'-Nandivrtti by Āc. Haribhadra, p. 76). Thus according to the Scriptures the extent of the Sūtrakytānga is equal to thirty-six thousand padas.
The measure of one anuştup verse is 32 syllables and at present in measuring the extent of a particular text the anustup verse is taken as a unit of measurement. The extent of the Sūtrakstānga as given in the old manuscripts is equal to 2,100 verses. Only a few manuscripts, while mentioning the extent, give the figures somewhat higher than this. For this one may read footnotes 3, 6, 9 on p. 258.
In the sto manuscript it is stated that the extent of the first śrutaskandha of the Acārāngasūtra, the seventh adhyayana entitled Mahāparijñā' excluded, is equal to 800 verses. For this one may refer to the Acārăngasūtra, the Mahavira Jaina Vidyalaya Edition, p. 418, line 5, as also the Amukha to this Edition, p. 58. When the number of verses of the extent of the Mahaparijñā adhyayana consisting of seven uddeśakas is added to this number of 800 verses, the extent of the Ācārāngasūtra gets considerably increased. So, the remark 'this Anga is twice as large as the Ācāranga' (=lāyārão dugunamamgam') occurring in the Sūtrakrtānganiryukti is quite in consonance with the extent of the Sūtrakrtânga as is available to us today.
Style: All the adhyayanas of the first śrutaskandha of the Sūtrakṛtānga, except the sixteenth Gäthädhyayana, are composed in verses. Though the Gathādhyayana is at present found in prose composition, the Niryukti, etc., state that it is composed in the Samudra metre (= 'tat samudrena chandasa nibaddham') 21 and the Sūtrakrtanga-Curni, etc., further inform us that in olden days it was meant to be sung somehow.22 Moreover, in the Sūtrakrtāngacūrni (p. 4)
19. Refer to the Prastāvanā to the Acārangasūtra, Mahavira Jaina Vidyalaya
edition, p. 31, fn. 1. 20. Refer to the Prastāvanā to the present edition of the Sūtrakrtānga, p. 3,
fn. 2. 21-22. Ibid., p. 21, fn. 2.
Even in the Buddhist literature there exists a division of works which is designated by the term 'gātha'. For details one may refer to the Appendix to the Acārāngasūtra, MJV Edition, p. 401, lines 11, 14. Buddhist Ac. Asanga has stated the definition of gātha in his Śrāvakabhūmi. Āc. Hemacandra has also given its definition in his Chandonuśāsana. Both these definitions are quoted in the Prastāvanā to the present edition of the Sutrakstânga (p. 21, fn. 1). Readers are requested to study them.