Agam 05 Ang 05 Study Of Bhagvati Vyakhya Prajnapti Sutra

Author(s): Suzuko Ohira
Publisher: Prakrit Text Society Ahmedabad

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PREFACE
The Bhagavatisutra (abbreviated hereafter as Bhagavati) or the fifth Anga of the Jainas is essentially a work on the Jaina doctrines of Jiva-ajiva developed during the long canonical period which distinguish Jainism from other philosophical systems of thought. It offers a panoramic record of the Jaina theoreticians' thought world and thought patterns on the relevant problems developed from the initial stage of their theorization until the maturity reached in the final canonical stage. How the Jainas came to learn the art of theorization, how the advanced theoretical discussions conducted in the Prajnapana came into being, and how the problems of Jiva-ajiva took the course of development after the completion of the other Pannatti texts are nowhere traceable but in the Bhagavati. As a whole, it preserves numerous key texts pertaining to the general problems of Jiva-ajiva within a cosmographical framework, which are indispensable to trace the evolution and development of the relevant thought documented in a conclusive form in the other canonical texts. Particularly noteworthy here is that the Bhagavati alone provides us with valuable material relevant to ajiva, i.e., the scheme of pudgala, early karma theory and fundamental realities called pancastikaya-cum-addhasamaya.
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The Bhagavati nucleus was probably a sizable collection of fragmentary passages on the problems pertaining to the fields of ontology (ie., jiva, pudgala and karma, including the relevant ethical subject matter) and cosmography composed in the prePrajnapana period. It must have been compiled for the first time under the title of Viyahapannatti at about the time of the Second Canonical Council at Mathura or Valabhi where it was authorized as the fifth Anga. The Viyahapannatti thus compiled did not likely go through a process of systematic organization, and to this were added at random the materials composed in subsequent ages. The Bhagavati in its present form is the result of a compilation made at the Third Valabhi Council, and it is as a whole a disorderly collection of numerous fragmentary passages on Jivaajiva covering various branches of knowledge developed during the 1,000 years of the canonical period, including many story texts and systematic treatises.
Such being the case, the chronological layers of its contents covering all branches of knowledge are hopelessly entangled. The Bhagavati as it stands is thereby impossible to be utilized by us for the purpose of grasping at once the history of the Jaina doctrinal system of Jiva-ajiva developed in the canonical period, unless the chronological layers of its contents in each subject field are disentangled and arranged in a clearcut way to facilitate the comprehension of their position in a historical context. This is the primary objective aimed at in our present attempt.
The chronological date of Satakas XXI-XLI is already evident from Dr. K.K. Dixit's analysis made in his article, "A Recent Study of Bhagavatisutra Reviewed". 'satakas are therefore excluded from the object of our analysis proper. We are thus setting before us the task of a chronological stratification of the layers of Satakas