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________________ JAINISMI IN NORTH INDIA convinced by Mahavira of the truth of his doctrine. Likewise the eighth and ninth Angas deal with legends concerning the pious, who, having put an end to their worldly life, attained the Mohsha and the highest heavenly world respectively.2 Taking the last two of the extant Angas, known as the Prasnavyakarnant and the Vipakasutam, we find that the first is more of a dogmatic than of a legendary nature, while the other is the reverse of it. It treats of the ten moral duties-commandments and prohibitions--viz. first of the five Adharmas, which must be avoided injury to bfe, lying, robbery, unchastity, (love of) possession-and then of the five Dharmas, the opposites of each of the above sins 3 The Vipaka-Sutra, on the other hand, contains legends on the reward of good and evil deeds, which are rightly, in the opinion of Dr Winternitz, similar to the Buddhistic Karman stories in the Avadanasataka and the Karmasataka. As to the twelfth Anga of the Jainas, it is no longer extant. It is irrevocably lost, along with the fourteen Purvas--the oldest portion of the canon--which were incorporated in it when they ceased to exist independently of the Anga literature. However there is one question of capital interest connected with the loss of the Drshtivada. Eminent Jarna scholars in Europe feel that the Jamas themselves give no convincing reason for the loss of what may be regarded as the oldest and the most venerable part of their sacred lore, and hence various explanations of what according to them seems to have been a startling fact have been attempted by them. To mention a few of these scholars . Weber thinks that the Drshtivada, not being in complete agreement with the tenets of the orthodox doctrine, was wilfully rejected by the Jainas themselves. According to Jacobi, Drsh trvada became obsolete because it consisted merely of discussions (Pravada) between Mahavira and his opponents, and that these would have gradually lost their interest and at last become wholly unintelligible to the Jainas themselves Last on the list, Dr Leumann propounds a totally different view as regards the loss of the Drshtavada According to him this Anga 1 C Hoernle, Ulasaga-Dasao, 2, pp 105-140 - Barnett, The Antagada-Dasdo and Antattarokat drya-Dasao, pp 13-10, 110, etc. CJ Weber, LA, wip 28 C. Winternitz, op cit, p 300 The fourteen Pinas iero included as the third great subdivision of the twelfth Ang Cf Weber, op cl,p 174 CJ Weber, IA, WI, p. 280 Of Jacobi, S.B.E, II, Int, pp viv ff 230
| SR No. | 011067 |
| Book Title | Jainism in North India |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Chimanlal J Shah |
| Publisher | Longmans Green and Compny London |
| Publication Year | 1932 |
| Total Pages | 66 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 3 MB |