Agam 13 Upang 02 Rajprashniya Sutra Sthanakvasi

Author(s): Amarmuni, Tarunmuni, Shreechand Surana, Trilok Sharma
Publisher: Padma Prakashan

Page 27

RAI-PASENIYA SUTRA
INTRODUCTION
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Nandi Sutra contains the description of eleven Anga Agams and twelve Upanga Agams Amongst them, Rau-paseniya Sutra is the Upanga of the second Anga Agam namely Sutrakritanga It is the second Upanga.
Relating this Agam to Sutrakritanga, Acharya Malaygin, the commentator, has said“Sutrakrtanga mentions three hundred and sixty three different philosophies namely Knyavadi, * Akriyavadi, Ajnanvadi, Vinayvadi etc Based on Akriyavadi (non-believer in soul/Chaarvak) philosophy, the philosophical beliefs of king Pradeshi have been presented and Keshi Kumar Shraman had provided logical refutation of all such beliefs" In Sthananga Sutra (8/22), the word 'Akriyavadi', has been used in two distinct manners-(1) Anatmavadı, and (2) Ekantvadi (sticking to one and only one interpretation). Akriyavadi has eight off-shoots-Ekvadı (single point of view), Anekvadi (many points of view), Mitvadi (limited point of view), Nimittvadı, Saatvadı, Samuchhedvadı, Nityavadı and Asat Parlokvadi The first six of the said eight are Ekantvadi sticking to single interpretation or just one point of view Samuchhedvadı and Asat Parlokvadı (non-believer in life after death) are Anatmavadı (non-believer in soul) Jain philosophers like Upadhyaya Yashovijay has termed non-believer in soul like Chaarvak as Akriyavadi Even Ekantvadı has been included in Naastık (non-believer in soul). (Nayopadesh 123)
The primary description in this Sutra is that of king Pradeshi The said king was a staunch * Naastik of that period in other words he was fanatic non-believer in soul He was extremely cruel, et merciless and contemptuous towards religion by temperament As such, associating him with Akriyavadı philosophy mentioned in Sutrakrıtanga, this Rai-paseniya Sutra has been accepted an Upanga of Sutrakritanga
In the first part of Rai-paseniya Sutra, there is description of Suryabh Dev The said Dev took birth in Saudharma Devlok and came with his entire celestial grandeur to Bhagavan Mahavir in order to greet him. There he presents his angelic grandeur in detail
After witnessing the scene of celestial performance, Ganadhar Gautam enquires from Bhagavan Mahavir-"Who is this Suryabh Dev? What ascetic activities charities and piety and have been performed by him that have resulted in providing such grandeur to him ?" In reply to this query, Lord Mahavir mentions in detail the earlier life-span of Suryabh Dev which forms the second part of this Sutra as dialogue between Kesh Kumar Shraman and king Pradeshi. This description is in the same * style as that of Dardurank Dev in Jnata Sutra (Chapter 13) In the beginning the angelic grandeur has been described and later in that background, his religious practices have been mentioned in detail
Just as an enquiry is made about the seed after seeing a tree fully laden with fruit, a curiosity arose to know the causes after seeing the divine grandeur. In reply to it, Bhagavan Mahavir mentions the religious practices that resulted in acquiring such a grandeur
The first part of Rai-paseniya Sutra starts with the description about arrival of Suryabh Dev in the spiritual congregation of Bhagavan Mahavir
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रायपसेणियसूत्र
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Rai-paseniya Sutra