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SAMBODHI of Rsipālita as fixed by Sagarmal Jain seems most logical. Undoubtedly, it should be attributed to a period not later than the first century, B.C.
Footnotes : 1. Devindatthao (Devendrastava), Subhash Kothari (trans.), Agam Ahimsa Samata evam Prakrit
Samsthana, Udaipur, 1988 (in Hindi). 2. Ibid, p. xxii. Inspite of its being an early text, the Ardhamāgadhi variants have given place
to the Māhārāstri Prakrit by the editors. Editors invariably face a dilemma, when the date of a work is not certain. This makes the editor's task more challengeing in the reconstruction
of the original text. 3. Ibid., p. xxi 4. The classification of gods is found in all the ancient religions of India. In Jainism gods are
classified as Bhavanpati, Vyantara, Jyotiska and Vaimānika. On a comparative study of Indian religions one finds parallels in the classification of various gods. However, in Jain religion the Jyotişka gods have been put in a separate class. This class of gods include sun, moon, planet, constellation and stray star. These are dealt in detail because of highly complex cosmological concept which Jainas had evolved in course of time. The Suryaprajñapti is one of the earliest treatise on the Jaina cosmology which is attributed to the 3rd century B. C. But
it is silent about the Vimanas of the Jyotiska gods. 5. S. P. Gupta, The Roots of Indian Art, Delhi, 1980, pp. 124-25. 6. A detailed study on the Symbolism of the Samath Lion Capital will be published soon by the
present writer. 7. Devindatthao, gāthā 209. 8. Ibid., gāthā, 216. 9. Gupta, RI A, pp. 189-192, fig. 2 - 5. 10. Ibid., p. 197 - 198 fig. 8.
