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No. 13 New Light on Antiquity of Jainism
23 We intend to approach this subject from an altogether different point of view which has not, as yet, attracted the attention of the castern or western scholars.
In ancient days writing was scarcely used for spreading and preserving knowledge. The sages of old used to commit to memory the then existing knowledge and send it down to posterity by oral teaching from--preceptor to disciple. It was from Kundakundacharya that a systematic attempt appears to have been made to preserve knowledge by reducing the same to writing. Acharya Kundakunda says:--
मग्गो मग्गफलं तिह दुविहं जिणसासणे समक्खादो।
मग्गो मोक्खउवाओ तस्स फलं होइ निव्वाणम् ।। Maggo Maggaphalm tiha duirham Jinasåsne Samakkhảdo Maggo mokkha uváo tassa phalam hoi Nivvāņam.
Meaning :-Magga (way) and Maggaphal-(fruit of the way) are the two things mentioned in Jainism. Magga means a remedy for liberation and its fruit is complete contentment.
In the commentary below of the above Prakrit verse the commen: tator says :
मार्गस्तावत् रत्नत्रयात्मकः Mārgastavāt ratnatrayâtmakah,
Meaning :-Märga however consists of three jewels ie. Samyakdarshan Samyakgsyan and Samyaga charitrya. Jainism is the religion of the three jewels. This means that the author of Niyamsāra calls Jainism as ‘märga'. After acharya Kunda Kunda flourished acharya Umåswati who, in his book 'Tatwarth Sutra', gives the first Sûtra as (सम्यग्दर्शन ज्ञान चारित्राणिमोक्षमागः।) 'Samyagdarshana giyana Charitrani Mokshamargah. Here also the word Marga has been used in the sense of religion. It will be marked that the word Dharma' has nowhere been used in Tatwărth Sutra in the sense of ‘religion. This book uses the word 'dharma' to denote one of the six primordial substances which this world is composed of. Later on, the word Magga or Márga fell out of use and in its place the word dharma came to be used in later literature.
Having thus firmly kept in mind that the ancient name of Jainism was Märga we shall proceed further:
