History of Canonical Literature of Jainas

SR No.: 006541
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Hiralal R Kapadia, Nagin J Shah
Publisher: Prakrit Text Society Ahmedabad
Publication Year: 2010
Total Pages: 322
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Agam, Canon, & History
File Size: 17 MB

Page 239

THE CANONICAL LITERATURE OF THE JAINAS v. 315 mentions 3 varieties of sutta from two different stand-points. From one angle of vision, sutta is three-fold viz. sannā-sutta,1 kāraga-sutta2 and payaraṇa-sutta3, and from another it is of two kinds viz. ussaggiya and avavaiya. In the com. (p. 97) on v. 318, 3 varieties of a sutra are differently noted. They are : utsargasūtra, apavādasūtra and utsargāpavādasūtra.5 Further, this com. adds apavādotsargasūtra to these three and thus notes 4 varieties of a sutta. It also furnishes us with corresponding examples. This exposition of the various varieties of a sutta has its own value, even when it has a parallel in the non-Jaina literature.
The word sutta has several Samskṛta equivalents such as supta, śruta, sūkta, sūtra, śrotra and srotas. Out of these the last two are here, out of question. And so is the 1st meaning of sutra. Out of 3 viz. (i) a prologue of a drama (vide Mohaparajaya 48), (ii) a scripture (vide Thana iv, 4) and (iii) a thread, the meaning 'thread' is acceptable; for, it can be construed as a thread of tradition-the tradition preserved and perpetuated by a succession of Tirthankaras.
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There are two allegations made by some of the scholars, regarding the word sutta used by the Jainas and the Bauddhas. They are
(i) The word sutta is used in the loosest sense possible.
(ii) The name sūtra is adopted "for the canonical writings more as a sort of formal counterpoise or set-off against Brahmanism than with a
1-3. Ayāra (1, 2, 5, 88), Viahapanṇatti (1, 9, 79) and Namipavajjä are the respective instances of these suttas.
4. There are three varieties of an authoritative sutra, See p. 15 fn 3.
5.
By adding vihi-sutta, ujjama-sutta, vannaya-sutta and bhaya-sutta to these 3 varieties we get 7. See Arhatadarśanadīpikā (p. 816).
6.
A sutta becomes six-fold when two more varieties of it viz. utsargotsargasūtra and apavādāpavādasūtra, are taken into account along with this. Ibid., pp. 818-819. 7. Prof. Jarl Charpentier is one of them. In his introduction (p. 32) to his edition of The Uttaradhyayanasūtra he says: 'It may further be noted that the term sutra is in reality very inappropriate to the sort of compositions included in the Siddhanta, inasmuch as we usually understand by sutra the very short and concise compendiums of ritual, grammar, philosophy and other sciences. But sūtra has apparently another sense amongst the Jains and Buddhists, and there is little doubt that it was their purpose in adopting this name rather to contest the claims of their Brahmanical opponents to be solely in possession of real canonical works than to imitate the style and modes of expression of the Brahmanical sūtra-literature."