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60
FOREWORD
there occurs a statement to the effect that Gäthäşodasaka (the first śrutaskandha of Sūtrakrtānga), etc., are composed in verse (='padyaň gädhäsolasagādi').
In the second śrutaskandha the fifth and the sixth adhyayanas are composed in verses and all the remaining ones, except the four verses occurring at the end of the third adhyayana, are composed in prose.
Subject-Matter : The author of the Sūtrakstāngacürni opines that out of four subjects, viz. Caranakaranānuyoga (Conduct), Dharmakathānuyoga (Religious Stories), Ganitānuyoga (Mathematics) and Dravyānuyoga (Metaphysics), it is Caranakaraṇānuyoga that is dealt with in the Sūtrakrtānga.. But Sīlācārya, the author of the Vștti, maintāins that Dravyānuyoga is the subject-matter of the Sutrakrtănga.28 Both these views are correct from different standpoints. Some adhyayanas give an account of the Jaina and non-Jaina metaphysical doctrines. Hence from this standpoint the Sutrakṛtānga is said to deal with metaphysics. But many adhyayanas deal mainly with purity of conduct. Hence from this standpoint it can rightly be said that the subject-matter of the Sūtrakṛtānga is conduct.
general account of the subject-matter of the Sūtrakrtānga is available in the Samavāyānga, etc. For its detailed account one may read the Visayānukrama (Contents) of this edition. Even then I would like to indicate here some noteworthy topics. In the first adhyayana many non-Jaina doctrines are stated and their defects pointed out. These doctrines are-Pañcamahābhūtavāda, Ekātmavada (Atmädvaitavāda), Tajjīvataccharīravāda, Akārakavāda, Ātmasastha[pañcamahābhūta]vāda, Aphalavāda (Ksanikavida) of the Buddhists, Niyativāda, Ajñānikavāda, Iñānavāda, Buddhist doctrine that four types of Karmans, viz., avijñopacita, parijñopacita, iryāpatha and svapnāntika do not get accumulated, various doctrines regarding creation of the world, viz., that the world is created by God, that the world is created by Pradhana, etc.
The Buddhist view that one does not incur sin even if one kills one's own son and eats his flesh in difficult circumstances is stated24 (Sūtra 55) and criticised (Sūtra 56).
Some of these doctrines are found expounded in the Buddhist works like the Dighanikāya, the Majjhimanikaya, etc., included in the Pali Tripitaka, as also in the Vedic works like Manusmrti, etc. For details one may refer to the notes in Appendix III on those
23. Refer to the Prastāvanā to the present edition of the Sütrakstangasūtta,
p. 26, fn. 2. 24. Ibid., p. 11, fn. 2.
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