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PREFACE : XXIX
will seem contrary to established tradition, will be noticeable even within the thirty-two works that the Sthánakavāsīs and the
Terāpanthis accept. The reality is that in the beginning Lokāśāna and the Sthānakavāsīs had access to only thirty-two canonical works and they accepted them as such. Once, thirty-two works had been accepted as canons, it was never felt necessary to change this stand. Hence, the Prakirnakas that became accessible later, were not accepted as canonical works by the Sthänakaväsis and subsequently by the Terāpanthis.
It is possible that out of the twenty-two Prakirnakas, there are one or two like Ganividyā, Titthogālī, etc that contain something different from their traditional beliefs, but even then it is hardly proper to reject the complete Prakirnaka literature on this basis. If that were so, we might have to reject many canonical works, because they contain information, which is even more different and contradictory to their traditional beliefs than the Prakirnakas. For instance some of the contents of Sūryaprajñapti is even more violent than those of Ganividyā. As far as the traditionally different content is concerned, the canonical literature contains more mentions of idols and idolworship than the Prakirnaka's. Shall we, then, want to reject the canonical works like Sthānārga -4, Jñātādharmakathā 25 and Rajapraśnīya 26 just for this reason? The folly that the
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Süryaprajñpti, Śrī Harsa Puspāmrta Jaina Granthamālā, 10/17. "Cattāri jinapadimão savvar.yanamaño"
-- Sthānāngasūtra, Madhukaramuni, 4/339. “Pavaraparihiyā Jinapadimānam accanam karei”
- Jñātādharmakathā, Madhukaramuni, 16/118. "Täsi nam Jinapadimānam”,
- Rājapraśnīyasūtra, Madhukaramuni, pp. 177-179.
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