Scientific Contents in Prakrta Canons

SR No.: 001670
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: N L Jain
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith
Publication Year: 1996
Total Pages: 608
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Science, & Religion
File Size: 9 MB

Page 77

Prākrta Canons : 55
one hundred eighty five books, an unimaginable figure
29,42,69,54,19,84,000/ 32 x 36 x 600 = 42,57,37,184.5 books
In contrast, if the anustup-meter-based definition of eight letter 'pada' is taken into account, we have a book of 125 page for Acārānga which is a reasonable size :
18,000 x 8 = 144,000/ 32 x 36 = 125 page
Thus, one should agree to a 'pada' definition as a 8letter unit. The current size of Acāranga is roughly 2650 ślokas or 10,600 padas. This means that approximately 40% of the original text seems to be lost in memory at the time of its putting into writing, i.e., during about 1000 years after Mahāvira. Devendra Muni says that this is not surprising as this has i happened in case of Vedic and Buddhists literature too. However, it must be pointed out that :
(i) The concept of Madhyama pada is a heavy extrapolation and mythological. It should be discarded for describing - the size of canons. Comparatively, it is seen that the Jainas have been master extrapolators in almost all descriptive aspects which could be confirmed from the Table 6.
In a sense, all descriptions regarding visible aspects of the universe should be made reasonable and reliable. Malvania, Amar Muni, Satyabhakta and others have expressed the imaginary and unverifiable nature of these types of magnitudes. This author inquired personally from many saints and scholars regarding the canonical size but all kept mum on the issue except one who explained the issue on the physical and psychical basis. Psychically, the Sruta may have an infinite magnitude. The credibility of this point is teasing to the scientific mind,
(ii) The metric pada of 8-letter should be the basis of canon size computations. However, even on this basis, the other angas may not fare well. Looking to their current size as shown in Table 5 a, their memory loss may be very high. Take for example, the case of Vipāka-Sūtra with 1,84,00,000 canonioal