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The Viyāhapannatti (Vyākhyāprajñapti) or Bhagavai (Bhagavati) is the fifth Anga of the Jaina Svetāmbara Canon. It is, as the title says, a ‘Proclamation of Explanations' viz of explanations given as a rule by Mahāvīra, the founder of Jainism, in answer to questions raised by his disciples, in most cases Goyama Indabhui. Experts have described this monumental work as an omnium gatherum, a tohu bohu etc.: its questions and answers, as a matter of fact, deal with a bewildering variety of topics, embracing all the important domains of the Jaina doctrine; moreover, its teachings are presented in many different forms (conversion stories and other narrative episodes, discussions, systematic expositions, short statements, refutations of heterodox views, calculations, references to other canonical works, quotations) and seem to succeed each other in complete confusion. A critical investigation of both the contents and the composition of the Viyāhapannatti is, therefore, long overdue. The present volume intends to give: (1) an introduction to the text, in which the problem of its composition is discussed; (2) a fairly complete analysis of its contents, and (3) detailed indexes of the proper names and technical terms occurring in it.
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