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Antiquity of the Ayaro (First Srutaskandha)
-Dr. Nathmal Tatia
1. The first Srutaskandha of the Āyāro represents an early phase of the ascetic ideology, and the language and metres of the work are directly derived from the Vedic idiom. The terminology used in the text is related to an earlier state of Nirgranthism and is at the same time the harbinger of its later development as a system of morality and religion with its own definite disciplinary code. The text opens with a passage which embodies the perennial concern of pholosophers, doubts that embarrass their minds. The cosmic doubt of the Vedic seer-kuta ājātā kuta iyam visssțih1 (from whence did it spring forth, from whence did this creation emanate ?)-finds its counterpart in the Āyāro's query about the self-ke aham āsī,ke vā cute peccā bhavissāmi? (what was I, what shall I be in the next birth after departure from here ?)—which is reminiscent of a heresay recorded in the Majjhima Nikāya<3 ayam nu kho satto kuto agato, SO kuhimgami bhavissati (wherefrom indeed this being came, where shall he go ?). Mortification of the flesh for the regeneration of the spirit is the quintessence of the philosophy of the Āyāro which is replete with exhortations to the spiritual aspirant to subjugate the passions through infinite endurance of hardships and relinquishment of worldly interests. "Stoutlyt ing the (unpleasant)sound and touch and subduing the lust for life, the saint, true to his saintliness, mortifies his body born of past karma ; he subsists on the stale and insipid (food), being courageous and equinamous; he is indeed the saint who has crossed the flood and is rightly designated as one 'who has crossed', 'who is emancipated', 'who has withdrawn himself'-thus do I say."4 In fact the biography of Mahāvīra in the Āyāro, chapter IX, which undoubtedly is the oldest and at the same time absolutely free from mythology, is an illustration of the extreme type of asceticism adumbrated in the text. We shall
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| SR No. | 524515 |
| Book Title | Tulsi Prajna 1978 07 |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Shreechand Rampuriya, Nathmal Tatia, Dayanand Bhargav |
| Publisher | Jain Vishva Bharati |
| Publication Year | 1978 |
| Total Pages | 142 |
| Language | Hindi |
| Classification | Magazine, India_Tulsi Prajna, & India |
| File Size | 3 MB |