Agam 08 Ang 08 Antkrutdashang Sutra Sthanakvasi

Author(s): Amarmuni, Shreechand Surana, Rajkumar Jain, Purushottamsingh Sardar
Publisher: Padma Prakashan

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the path of enlightenment or the means of acquiring Brahma-jnana; the Buddhist Philosophy lays stress on meditation, and the Shraman or Jain culture prescribes austerities
Austerities envelope both yoga and meditation. Among the twelve categories of terities. kaya-klesh (rigorous discipline of the body) is a form of yoga practice and Shop-tap is a form of meditational practice. Within tap there is yoga as well as meditation.
why the Shraman culture is a culture of ascetics. To indulge in tap-practices is the essence of Shraman culture. Tap is the recognizing factor of Shraman culture. The scul of Jain religion is tap.
Antakriddasha Sutra
Introduction-Antakriddasha Sutra occupies a place of special importance among the lain Agams that throw light on the concept and form of tap-practices. Its title itself is suggestive of the fruits of tap (austerities). Tap is not done to emaciate the body. The
urpose of tap is to temper and reduce to ashes the veils of karma covering the soul. The sand and other impurities of gold evaporate out when heated in fire and it turns into kundan (pure gold). In the same way when all the karmas are destroyed with the help of tap, the true form of soul (purity of soul) is attained. Thus, with the help of tap-practices all karmas are ended or destroyed. With the destruction of karmas the cycles of rebirth are destroyed. The cause of life and death is karma. When karmas are destroyed the ties of life and death are automatically broken. The cycle of rebirth is terminated.
The literal meaning of Antakriddasha Sutra also conforns to this-the Agam that details the conditions, state, status and practices of the souls that have terminated the cycle of rebirth is Antakriddasha Sutra. It contains a sensational description of the rigorous practices, austerities and meditation done by 90 seekers who ended the cycles of rebirth to attain nirvana.
Antakriddasha Sutra is the eighth among the Agams. It has eight sections and all the central characters described in this attained nirvana after shedding all the eight karmas. That is the reason that the tradition of its recital during the eight days of Paryushan, the annual religious festival of the Jain order, has been popular since ancient times.
Language-The language of this Agam is Ardha-Magadhi. In scriptures it is mentioned that the language liked by Tirthankars, Ganadhars and gods is Ardha-Magadhi. Therefore this is the language liked by all. The language of all Jain Sutras is Ardha-Magadhi.
Style - In the Jain Sutra those which contain subjects dealing with fundamentals like soul and karma are classified as those dealing with Dravyanuyoga. Those which contain discussions about conduct, codes of conduct and other related topics are classified as those of Charananuyoga style. The subjects like mathematics, universe, geography, astronomy, rivers and mountains are covered by Ganitanuyoga style. And the Agams that are in biographical and narrative style are said to be mainly of Kathanuyoga style.
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