Agam 45 Chulika 02 Anuyogdwar Sutra

Author(s): Nathmal Tatia
Publisher: Research Institute of Prakrit Jainology & Ahimsa Mujjaffarpur

Page 14

(xiii)
concerned with the soul itself engaged in the avassaya at the present moment. It is, therefore, straightway divided as (a) worldly or popular, (b) belonging to perverse instruction, that is, heretical, and (c) extraworldly, that is, truly religious (vide sutta No. 25).
In the case of (a), the particle 'no' in no-agamao is used to indicate the popular notion of avassaya, such as the regular study of the Bharata (Mahabharata) in the forenoon and Ramayana in the afternoon. Here the Commentary (p. 26 A) says that such study is bhava, because the reciter and the listners become engrossed in the meaning of the text; it is no-agama, because it involves such acts as turning the leaves of the book, manual gestures, and the like, which are partial negation of agama (that is knowledge), being associated with and, at the same time, falling apart from the latter. The Commentary also admits such texts as no-agama in the sense of a popular agama, on account of their being acceptable to the people at large. The expression no-agama is thus explained both as a negative and a positive word. It is negative as meaning 'absence of agama qua knowledge' in the physical activities of the speakers and the listners; it is positive as standing for an agama (true knowledge) in the opinion of the populace.1 Such study is moreover an avassaya in that it is undertaken as an obligatory duty by those who believe it.
In the case of (b), the particle 'no' in no-agamao is used to indicate a perverted doctrine. According to the Commentary (p. 26 B) the particle is used in the sense of partial negation indicating both the positive and the negative aspect of the heretical avassaya, the presence of agama qua the heretic's knowledge of the meaning of the avassaya being the positive and absence of agama qua knowledge in the heretic's physical movements in performing the avassaya being the negative side. The bhava- and avassaya-features are to be understood as in the case of (a).
In the case of (c), the particle 'no' is used in the sense of partial negation in that it stands for wiping the mouth-cloth, cleaning with the duster, and so on-which, being purely physical acts as opposed to the knowledge of avassaya, are no-agama, that is, a part of agama, the other complementary part being the knowledge of avassaya. The avassaya here is bhava, because the person concerned has completely identified himself with the avassaya that he is practising.
1. Commentary (p. 26 A): kriyalakṣaṇe desc agamasyäbhāvāt no-agamatvam... dese tvagamo 'sti, laukikabhiprayeṇa bharatader agamatvāt.