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THE CANONICAL LITERATURE OF THE JAINAS
(CHAP.
(iii) Some of the Svetāmbaras of the present days state that the following 3 works written in Saṁskrta have been extracted from Puvvagaya :
(1) Namo'rhat, (2) Namo'stu Vardhamānāya and (3) Visās lalocana. . While trying to verify this statement, 1 find that in Hīrapraśna also called Praśnottrasamuccaya (prakāśa III, p. 286) it is stated that Namo'rhat is extracted from a Puvva.
It may be however noted that the quotations from the Puvvas given on pp. 86–87 suggest that the Puvvas were composed in Präkrta, in case these are reproductions ad verbatim.
The study of the Puvvas-A Caturdaśapūrvadhara can go through all the 14 Puvvas, both in word and meaning in a muhūrta', in case he has practised 'mahāprāna dhyāna'. This is what is said in Parisiştaparvan (1x, 623). Padmamandira Gaņi, however, in his com. (p. 1836)4 on Dharmaghoṣa Sūri's Rşimandalaprakarana (v. 181) observes that in virtue of this dhyānu having been practised, a Caturdaśapūrvadhara can in an antarmuhürtas have the gunana of all the Puvvas from the beginning to the end and in the reverse order to boot.
Vatthus-The 14 Puvvas have sections known as Vatthus. Their numbers are respectively 10, 14, 8, 18, 12, 2, 16, 30, 20, 15, 12, 13, 30 and 25 ( vide Nandi s. 576). In all, they come to 225.
1 This is the 30th part of a day, and practically it equals 48 minutes. 2 This is alluded to in the following verse of Sirisirivälakahā:
"महपाणज्झायदुवालसंगसुत्तत्थतदुभयरहस्सो। सज्झायतप्परप्पा एसप्पा चेव उवज्झाओ ।।१३३०॥" 3 "महाप्राणे हि निष्पन्ने कार्ये करिमश्चिंदागते । सर्वपूर्वाणि गुण्यन्ते सूत्रार्थाभ्यां मुहूर्ततः ॥६२॥" 4 "पूर्णे तस्मिन् महाप्राणे पूर्वाणि गुणयेत् किल । आदितोऽन्तं यावदन्तादादि चान्तर्मुहूर्ततः ॥ १८८ ॥" 5 This means a period which ranges from 9 samayas to a muhurta less by one samaya, as can be seen from the following verse of Lokaprakāśa (111): -
"समयेभ्यो नवभ्यः स्यात् प्रभृत्यन्तर्मुहूर्तकम् । समयोनमुहूर्तान्तमसङ्ख्यातविधं यतः ॥ ३४॥" 6 "दस चोदस अट्ठ(s)द्वारसेव बारस दुवे अ वत्थूणि । सोलस तीसा वीसा पन्नरस अणुप्पवायम्मि ।।
बारस इकारसमे बारसमे तेरसेव वत्थूणि। तीस पुण तेरसमे चोदसमे पण्णवीसाओ।"
From this it follows that the 10th Puvva is here named as Anuppovāya instead of Vijjanuppavāya,
