Agam 10 Ang 10 Prashna Vyakaran Sutra Sthanakvasi

Author(s): Amarmuni, Varunmuni, Sanjay Surana
Publisher: Padma Prakashan

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plete knowledge of the text and the meaning of the 14 Purvas was available till 4 Acharya Bhadrabahu. That of 10 Purvas continued up to Ãcharya Sthulibhadra.
In other words the lineage of Shrut Kevalis got terminated with the death of Acharya Bhadrabahu (170 ANM). After this the lineage of scholars of 10 Purvas (Dash Purvadhar) continued till Achărya Vajra, who died in 584 ANM. He was followed by Achárya Aryarakshit and the decline of the treasure of knowledge continued. A time came when the knowledge of the Purvas was completely lost. That was in 1000 ANM.
It is mentioned in the commentary (Churni) of Nandi Sutra that after a famine lasting 12 years the capacity to learn, memorize and contemplate drastically declined. This resulted in a paucity of ascetics who could memorize the scriptures. In response to this the ascetic organization assembled in Mathura under the leadership of Achărya Skandil. They compiled, corrected, edited and organized all the scriptures each one of them remembered. This is called the Mathuri Váchanã (Mathura Recitation). Around the same time another such attempt was made at Vallabhi by Acharya Nagarjuna, who tried to restructure the texts on the basis of establishing textual continuity. This is known as the Vallabhi Văchanã. The period of both these religious councils is believed to be somewhere around 830 to 840 ANM.
About 150 years after these two religious councils the ascetic organiza41 tion (Shraman Sangh) assembled once again in Vallabhi. Under the leadership
of Arya Devardhigani Kshamãshraman the aforesaid two recitations were compared and differences were removed as far as possible. Wherever there were significant and important differences they were accepted and included as variant readings. It was also decided that from memory all these text be transferred to palm leaves. This great mission of writing was accomplished around 980 to 993 ANM.
It can be said that a major portion of the Agamic literature available today crystallized during that period. However, even after the written tradition started, some portions of the Agamic knowledge kept on getting lost. This is evident from the list mentioned in Nandi Sutra. Bhagavãn Mahavir gave his sermon
around 500 BV (Before the Vikram era), as such, creation of any book of canon yi before that is out of question. According to the last reciting the writing of the
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