Agam 05 Ang 05 Study Of Bhagvati Vyakhya Prajnapti Sutra

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

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(1) To preach the 12 Angas, (2) To preach five vratas or four yamas in Bharatas, Airavatas and Mahavidehas, and (3) To organize tirthas. The rule that the 11 Angas exist in the first and the last eight interims but do not exist in the seven interims in the middle must be an expression of the idea that the 11 Angas are not constantly maintained by the people due to their nature and conditions. The plan of its distribution by dividing twenty-three interims into roughly three equal divisions is however a mechanical one. Likewise, the rule that five vratas are taught by the first and the last tirthankaras alone is obviously a mechanical and formal operation, because the 1st tirtharkara takes his birth in suşamaduşama period when people can observe the vows better than those in duşamasusama period in which the rest of 23 tirthankaras take their birth (see also Uttara XXI.26 for the exposition of preaching five vows and four vows.)
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The canonical authorities must have therefore considered logically and mechanically that the 12 Angas to be preached by the rest of 23 tirtharkaras are fundamentally the same as those taught by MV himself in order to express an idea that the 12 Angas subsist in the universe eternally, even though they sometimes disappear totally or partially depending on the nature and conditions of their holders. We may recall here that the nature and profile of the universe are said in V.9.225 (A-1-2) to have been proclaimed by Parsva already, which is referred to in IX.32.377 (C-2). This is conveyed by MV to Parsva's followers in V.9.225, and upon hearing it these Parsvans are immediately converted to MV's order. It would be normal to expect that these Parsvans would react by becoming more proud of their master and deepen their faith in Parsva. However, they are immediately converted here, obviously because MV shows the supreme knowledge that this fact had already been known to Pars va. Calling for the previous tirthankara's authority as such must have been done during the current of thought that the 12 Angas are preached by all the tirtharkaras and they subsist eternally in the world.
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In this connection, we should recall the intriguing problem of the lost Purva included in the Drştivada which also came to be lost. In our text above, the Jainas in the final canonical period are putting the problem of the Purva in the frame of a rule that MV's Purva lasts for 1,000 years. One more obvious intention noted here is to extol the Kşatriya class and their noble families including Jnata clan. The self-evident intention is to assert that MV belongs to the Kşatriya class. The church authorities thus attempted to theorize tirtharkaras' roles and positions in the mythological context, which was also a trend then current in all the religious schools. This text was composed in the early fifth canonical stage.