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## 16
The **Mahapanchavaanapariṇṇaya**
The **taḍpaṭra** (palm leaf) copies also confirm that this text is sufficiently ancient.
A significant piece of evidence for considering the time of composition of the **Mahapratyākhyāna** is the mention of the **dvādaśavidha śruta-skandha** (twelve categories of scriptures) in it. This implies that the **dvādaśavidha śruta-skandha** existed when this text came into being. We must remember that the concept of the **dvādaśa-aṅga** (twelve parts) is quite ancient in the Jain tradition. The **dvādaśa-aṅga** are also mentioned in ancient **āgama** texts like **sthānāṅga**, **samavāyāṅga**, etc. Although this statement does not provide much help in determining the time of composition of this text, it can be said that this text was composed when the **dvādaśavidha śruta-skandha** existed. The mention of the **dvādaśa-aṅga** in the text also automatically implies that this text was composed after the composition of the **dvādaśa-aṅga** and before the disappearance of the earlier literature. The mention of the **dvādaśa-aṅga** in this text, but the absence of the names of **niyukti**, **bhāṣya** and **cūrṇī**, indicates that this text was composed sometime after the second century CE and before the fifth century CE.
Another point worth noting in relation to the time of composition is that this text does not mention **guṇasthāna** (categories of qualities) anywhere in the context of **samādhi-maraṇa** (death in meditation), whereas the **yāpanīya** tradition's authoritative texts on **samādhi-maraṇa**, **Bhagavati Ārādhanā** and **Mūlācāra**, also discuss **guṇasthāna**. In an independent essay, we have considered the time of the developed concept of **guṇasthāna** to be after the **Tattvārthabhāṣya**, i.e., after the third century CE, and before the **Sarvārthasiddhiṭīkā**, i.e., before the fifth-sixth century CE. Based on this, we can say that the concept of **guṇasthāna** was fully developed around the fifth century CE. This also leads us to the same conclusion that the **Mahapratyākhyāna**...
1. **Gāthā**, 102.
2. **Sthānāṅga** 10/103.
3. **Samavāyāṅga** 1/2.
4. **Śramaṇa** (January-March 1992)