Jain Journal 2001 10

SR No.: 520144
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication
Publication Year: 2001
Total Pages: 49
Language: English
Classification: Magazine, India_Jain Journal, & India
File Size: 3 MB

Page 34

JAIN JOURNAL: Vol-XXXVI, No. 2 October, 2001 monastic order (Śri Sangha) also. Besides the passing away of monks in large numbers for want of food, there was the additional danger of the extinction of the scriptural knowledge in the possession of individual monks, mainly in their memory and transmitted by verbal tradition. There were no written texts even till many centuries later. So a conference was held and all the scattered sacred lore was compiled. Thus eleven complete angas could be collected, except the twelfth. Acarya Bhadrabahu was its only knower, but he was then in Nepal, practising a special yogic meditation called Mahā-prāṇa-dhyāna. Word was sent to him, but he refused to come.
86
At this the Śri Sangha reminded him what the penalty was for disobeying the orders of the Śri Sangha. Acārya Bhadrabahu accepted that any one, even an Acarya, was liable to be excommunicated if he went against the commands of the Order, and he was no exception. He, therefore, agreed, as a compromise, to impart the knowledge of the twelfth anga, even while practising Mahā-prāṇa-dhyāna. Capable monks were sent to him, but because of his being preoccupied with his practices, the tuition proceeded so slowly that most of the monks left out of sheer desperation. Nevertheless, Sthulabhadra alone persisted in that snail-paced learning.
During this period, Sthulabhadra's seven sisters, who too had become nuns, came to meet their elder brother. Bhadrabahu directed them to a nearby cave. Seeing them come, Sthulabahdra, simply to show off his occult powers, assumed the form of a lion. The sisters, frightened out of their wits and thinking that their brother had been killed by the beast, hurried back. However, when they reported the whole matter to Bhadrabahu, he, sensing the truth, sent them again to the cave. This time, of course, they saw their brother.
The practical joke might have amused and impressed the nuns, but it proved disastrous for Sthulabhadra. Acarya Bhadrabahu refused to teach him any further since he had misused the powers acquired by the study. Sthūlabhadra immediately realized his mistake, repented and repeatedly begged to be pardoned, pledging never again to misuse the occult powers. But Bhadrabahu was adamant. The Śri Sangha intervened and requested him to teach the remaining portion. At this, he taught only the text, but not the meaning of the remaining four sections.
Justifying his stand Acarya Bhadrabahu said that he was unwilling to impart the precious knowledge not merely because Sthulabhadra had misused it, but also for a deeper reason. There wasn't a more