Agam 26 Prakirnak 03 Maha Pacchakhana Sutra

Author(s): Sagarmal Jain
Publisher: Agam Ahimsa Samta Evam Prakrit Samsthan

Page 11

X: MAHĀPRATYĀKHYANA-PRAKIRNAKA
important not the words. It i: this lack of emphasis on words that the Āgamas of Jaina tradition could not keep their linguistic character unaltered as the Vedas have been able to do over the millennia. This is the reason that the Jaina Canonical literature got divided into two streams, namely the Ardhamāgadhi Canons and the Sauraseni Canons. Of these, the Ardhamāgadhi canonical literature is not only more ancient but also closer to the original language in which Lord Mahāvīra preached. The development of the Sauraseni canonical literature was also based on these Ardhamāgadhi canons. The Ardhamāgadhi canonical literature is, thus, the basis of the Sauraseni canonical literature and more ancient than the latter. The Ardhamāgadhi canonical literature was also compiled and edited over a period of nearly a thousand years – from the time of Lord Mahāvīra to 980 or 993 Vīrā Era (reckoned from the date of Lord Mahāvīra's nirvāna), when they were rendered in their present form in the Valabhi conclave. Therefore, it is quite possible that these were also modified, altered and enlarged by various preceptors during this period.
In the ancient times the Ardhamāgadhi canonical literature was divided into two categories, namely the Angapravişta and the Angabāhya. The Angapraviştha category includes eleven Ariga Āgamas (Primary canons) and the Drstivā da while the Angabāhya Āgamas (Secondary and subsequent canonical literature) include all the other canonical scriptures that were considered to be the compositions of Srutakevalis or Canonomniscients who knew all about the canons and Pūrvadhara Sthaviras (Elder monks in the know of Pūrvas or the Pre-canons - fourteen Pūrvas were a part of the twelfth Anga Āgama : Drstivāda). In Nandīsūtra, these Angabāhya canons have been