Agam 15 Upang 04 Pragnapana Sutra Part 02

Author(s): Shyamacharya, Punyavijay, Dalsukh Malvania, Amrutlal Bhojak
Publisher: Mahavir Jain Vidyalay

Page 258

...[229]...
the discussion on gatyagati (transmigration) there occurs, in both the works, the discussion on the acquisition of the position of Tirthankara, Cakravarti, Baladeva, Vasudeva. The only difference is that Prajñāpanã adds two more positions viz Mandalika and Ratna (Prajñāpanā Sū. 1466–69). Satkha. VI, Sū. 216, 220 etc.
Upanga Prajñāpanāsutra is a work of Arya Syāmācārya. But this does not mean that all the material contained in it is thought out by Syāmācārya himself. It is so because his objective was to compile and arrange in a certain way the material came down to him from the tradition of śruta. This is the reason why he has not followed the same classification of living beings occurring in the first Pada while discussing the points of investigation sthiti etc. The exposition of the dvaras-sthāna etc., which had been variously developed by the former Acāryas, was before him. So, his task was to collect and compile all the ideas and thoughts in proper dvaras. Though the exposition performed in the dvaras beginning with 'sthana' has bearing on all the living beings, there is no unanimity regarding the point as to which dvaras are to be treated of in which type of divisions of living beings. Keeping in view the point as to how the treatment of a particular subject can be easy, subdivisions of living beings to be described at the occasion of dealing with a particular dvara-are determined. If one and the same individual were to describe it after considering all the points, then it is quite possible that he might describe it altogether differently. But this is not the case with Prajñāpană. Arya Syama has acquired, through tradition, the legacy of whatever the earlier Acaryas had thought. And in Prajñāpanā Arya Syama collected the thoughts and ideas that arose in the tradition from time to time. If we look at Prajñāpanā from this view-point it is nothing but a systematic collection of ideas and thoughts accumulated in tradition upto that period. This is the reason why the readers were asked to refer to Prajñāpană for complete discussion when the Agamas were put down in writing.
Living being and Karma (moral causation)-these are the two main subjects dealt with in the Jaina Agamas. One trend of thinking keeps living being in the centre while discussing various topics viz. as to how many divisions of living beings there are, as to how long a living being of a particular type can live, as to where it dwells, in which class it can take birth after death, as to how many sense-organs it can possess, as to which sex it can have, as to how many knowledges it can possess, as to which karmas it can bind, etc. Another trend of thinking keeps Karma in the centre and discusses, in the main, different types of Karma and their role in the spiritual evolution or degradation of a living