Agam 05 Ang 05 Study Of Bhagvati Vyakhya Prajnapti Sutra

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

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groups are typical of the Bhagavati in contrast to the other Angic story texts, which are generally of a didactic nature on ethics and conduct illustrating what kinds of action bear what kinds of result. The last group is shared by the works on cosmography and geography.
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These are the important and salient features of the Bhagavati I-XX. As to XXI-XLI, We have already noted their features in the beginning of this chapter. The Bhagavati thus stands in a peculiar position in contrast to the other canonical texts, for the latter generally take the form of compilations of treatises on certain branches of knowledge, which are composed more or less systematically in order to offer the corollaries arrived at each period of thought development.
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From the analysis made above, it is evident that the Bhagavati is fundamentally concerned with the general theoretical problms of jiva-ajiva in the loka-aloka, which are the essential problems treated in the Pannatti texts. For this reason story texts were easily classified into the relevant subject fields. Mythological stories are, of course, the concern of the Pannatti texts. Another peculiar theme offered in the Bhagavati is the early Jaina church history centered around MV, which is expressed in a group of stories and dissidents' issues, i.e., Jamali's and Ganga's. These problems can be embraced in the category of jiva in a broader sense, inasmuch as various problems pertaining to ethics and conduct can be included herein. Thus despite the external appearance of pellmell, the Bhagavati has a vital consistency in dealing with the doctrines of jiva-ajiva as a whole. As we classified the contents of Satakas I-XX into six sections, i.e., Cosmology, Ajiva, jiva, Ethical Problems, Karma and Jaina Church, the contents of Satakas XX I-XL I can also be absorbed into any one of these six sections. In other words, the Bhagavati deals with the problems of jiva-ajiva relevant to these subject fields developed in the canonical age.
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These six sections abound in key texts expressing the evolution and development of the concepts of jiva-ajiva, upon the basis of which the relevant thoughts documented in many other canonical texts are established in the final form, particularly the later Pannatti texts. Therefore, without the help of the Bhagavati, the evolution and development of a number of important concepts relevant to jiva-ajiva occurring in the other canonical texts are difficult to trace. This is particularly true of the sections on Ajiva and Karma. The Bhagavati is thus indispensable in order to stratify the layers of the other canonical texts that are replete with the later additions, as has been attested in the previous chapters. This must be the most significant feature and value of the Bhagavati, and for this reason it must have remained through the long canonical stages without being totally destroyed.