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The Place of Saptaatika in Karma Literature
Based on available evidence, it can be said that the Karma literature available in the Svetambara and Digambara Jain traditions was written based on the fourth Prabhrut of the fifth object of the Agraniyapurva and the Gyanapravad and Karmapravad Purva. Based on the Agraniyapurva, the Shatkhandagam, Karmaprakriti, Shatak and Saptaatika were compiled, and based on the third Prabhrut of the tenth object of the Gyanapravad Purva, the Kashayaprabhrut was compiled.
Of these texts, the Karmaprati text is considered to be in the Svetambara tradition, and the Vashayaabhrut and Shatkhandagam are considered to be in the Digambara tradition. The Shatak and Saptaatika are considered to be in both traditions, with some variations in the text.
The practice of naming a text based on the number of verses or shlokas has been prevalent since ancient times. For example, Acharya Shivsharm's 'Shatak', Acharya Siddhasen's Dvatrishika Prakaran, Acharya Haribhadrasuri's Panchashak Prakaran, Vishati-Vishatika Prakaran, Shodashak Prakaran, Ashtak Prakaran, Acharya Jinchalabh's Padhashiti Prakaran, etc. can be cited as examples. The name Saptaatika seems to have been given based on this principle. It is also called the sixth Karma text because it comes sixth in the current count of Karma texts.
Saptaatika is one of the five texts considered to be the original literature on Karma. Saptaatika refers to differences of opinion in many places. For example, one difference of opinion is in verses 16-20 and its commentary, when mentioning the number of Udayavikalpa and Padavrindas, and another difference of opinion is in the Aayogikevali Gunasthan, when mentioning the name karma.