________________
iii
of Mahāvīra, i e. probably in 454 or 517 of the Christian era, (i.e, about the middle of the 5th or the beginning of the 6th century A.D.). This council, besides restoring the Jain canon, did the most precious work of reducing it to writing. From this time onward the Jain canon has remained in tact.
Thus we see, that even according to the tradition, the authority of the sacred texts of the Jainas does not go beyond the 5th century A.D. It is true that they assume that the texts which were written at the time of the council of Valabhī are based on the old texts, compiled at the council of Pāțaliputra, which, in their turn, are traced back to the times of Mahavira and his immediate disciples, the Ganadharas. But-"So much is certain : the works of the Siddhānta cannot have originated at one period. The canon which Devardhi compiled, and which has come down to us, is the final result of a literary activity that must have begun as soon as the organisation of the order and the monastic life were firmly established. This was in all probability the case not long after the death of Mahāvīra." —Winternitz.
The literature belonging to the canon of the S'vetāmbara Jainas has been exhaustively discussed by Weber. The list of arrangement of the scriptures was drawn by Bühler. According to this list, the present canon of the S'vetāmbara Jainas consists of the following 45 works :I Eleven Angas :
. (?) SPIRIT (SERIF); (2) 295 (Danas); (3) STUTT (EUTIS); (7) AHRİ (Haris); (4) arequirê (oregalà) -generally referred to as Hitaataz; (&) arti+HETST (TATE
27: or TCF217:); (9) JarATCHT3T(391##&+T:); (c) siasदसाओ (अन्तकृतदशाः); (९) अणुत्तरोववाइयदसाओ (अनुत्तरौपपतिकदशाः); (20) qerarchE (98621F2yti); (??) farradi (faqah). II Twelve Úpāngas:
(१) ओववाइयसुत्तं (औपपातिकसूत्र); (२) रायपसेणइज or रायपसेणिय -3/59214-Wrong but traditional rendering of the title. (3)
faifita; (r) quran (971971); (4) or are courtît (afatla); Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
www.umaragyanbhandar.com