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 92

70 : Scientific Contents in Prākṛta Canons
(v) This trend has highly confused about the authorship of most important early texts of Digambaras specially. One still finds many disputes today about their authorship and historicity. The modern scholars wish to clarify certain points as to evaluate the conceptual growth comparatively.
Dixit42 rightly says that thought process is like a living system, assimilating new material and discarding the waste for its proper growth. Modern scholars agree with him that the idea of permanent constancy of thought is a mis-conceived one, One cannot substantiate it by deeper studies of Jaina texts themselves. A scientific scholar will, therefore, formulate some thesis on which to work for constructing the history of Jaina thoughts and scientific subject matter, on the basis of scriptural and documentary material available with us spread over between pre-Christian centuries and many post-Christian centuries.
This thesis requires classification of canonical literature on the basis of their approximate period of composition for their evaluative studies. Certain guidelines could be observed in this connection:
(i) Linguistic and metrical analysis,
(ii) Status of systematisation of contents,
(iii) Arrangement of contents,
(iv) Methodological tendencies.
Despite the fact that Acārānga has the oldest linguistic and metrical pattern, the other canons do not show much linguistic peculiarities. Hence, they are classifiable on this basis. The other idea of antiquity could be based on the fact that older the text, lesser should be its systematic treatment and arrangement of subject matter. The methodology of treatment of subject matter could also form a guide in this matter.
Following the above guidelines, Dixit43 has classified the existing canonical literature in three periodic groups as below: Acārānga, Bhagavati (early part) etc.
500-200 B. C.
(i) First
period