International Journal Of Jaina Studies Vol 01 To 03 2005 To 2007

SR No.: 022773
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Peter Flugel
Publisher: Hindi Granth Karyalay
Publication Year: 2008
Total Pages: 202
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 19 MB

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bhasiyāim), teachers (avariya-bhäsitäim), and Mahāvīra (mahāvīra-bhāsitäim), indicate that legends were also part of the text.
The other two descriptions of the Praśnavyakarana from the Nandisutra and Samaväyängasútra, though highlight the legendary character of the Praśnavyakaraṇa known to them, tell us that it contained prašna, aprašna, and praśnäprašna. These three issues can be the best interpreted as questions valid for divinatory consideration, the opposite, and the questions which are concerned with divination only to a certain degree. So, I conclude that the text of the Praśnavyakarana known to the compilers of the Śvetämbara Jain canon contained divination related issues as well as legends,"" And, we have to say that the text now found is either only a part of the text they had in view or belongs to the Digambara tradition. I see a greater chance for the second option, because Pujyapada Devanandin who was instrumental in composition of Jivabhogin's commentary (see below) was a well-known Digambara teacher.
It is peculiar feature of the text of the recently discovered Praśnavväkarana that, unlike other angasutras, it is entirely in versified form, but is not presented in the form of dialogue. It begins with an invocation to Mahavira and to Śrutadevata, the embodiment of the entire canonical knowledge." In the third gatha, Panha appears as the title of the text together with an epithet Jinapayada." The full Prakrit title appears only in the mantra of Mauravahini Sudadevadă, found in the appendix at the end of the manuscript", where the
"A text titled Isibhāsiyaim exists and has been published with a German translation from Hamburg, see Schubring 1969. Abhayadeva does not elaborate about these first five topics, but says that their meaning is literally clear.
These descriptions can only hint at the original content but cannot be taken literally. It is no new thing in the history of Jaina literature that accretions grow around older material.
Śrutadevata (Pkt. Sudadevada/Suyadevaya) is mentioned also in the Bhagavatisutra, Mahānisīthasutra and some other Jain texts. See Shah 1941: 196f. In the Jain tradition, the twelve angasutras are described as her limbs and the fourteen purvas as her ornaments. See Shah 1941: 196, Ludvik 2007: 245. As Ludvik 2007. 234. n. 38 in her recent book on Sarasvati reports, Jain Scholar Paul Dundas takes the Śrutadevatā referred to in the Bhagavatisutra not as Sarasvati but rather as an all purpose category. Yet, another Jain scholar. Nagasaki Höjun (p.c.), interprets it as Sarasvati. With the discovery of Jivabhogin's commentary on the Panhavagarana, it is clear that Śrutadevata was identified with the Mayūravahini Sarasvati by the end of the seventh century, the date of our commentary.
12 Jīvabhogin, the commentator, records a variant reading Jaäpayaḍa (Skt. Jayaprakṛta) for Jinapayada (Skt. Jina-prakra).
13 I give here the complete set of mantras, including the well-known parameṣthimantras: namo arahamtaṇam namo siddhanam I namo airiyanam | namo upajjhayanam | namo loe savvasahūḥam namo
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