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ganadharānuntaryādibhih employed in the Tattvāriha-Bhāsya suggests us to understand even a sthavira contemporary of the Tirtharkuru or a gañadhara in addition to a sthaviru posterior 10 them. From this it necessarily follows that Avaśyaka-sutra is a work by some sthavira who flourished in helween the time of Tīrtharkaru and that of Ac. Bhadrabāhu.
Commentarial Literature on the Original Āvaśyakasūtra
The Avaśyaka acts are important for monks and laymen both. Hence great importance attaches to Āvaśyaka-sutra. This is the reason why Ac. Bhadrabāhu.wrote Niryukti first on Avaśyaka-sūtra and then only on the other nine Agamas. Niryukti is a Prakrit commentary written in verses. In his times it was a practice to write this type of commentary. After Niryukti, some anonyinous writer has composed a bhāsya in Prakrit verses. And alier this bhāsya, a cūrņi came to be written in mixed Sanskrit and Prakrit. Its author probably is Ac. Jinadāsagaņi.
As time went on, scholars lost their interest in Prakrit language. So, ācāryas who realised the demands of the changing times had already started writing commentaries in Sanskrit. A verse by Ac. Haribhadrasūri testifies to this fact. It is as follows:
yady api mayā tathā'nyaiḥ kṣtāśya vivrtis tathā'pi surkseput / tadrucisattvānugrahahetoḥ kriyate prayāso'yam //
From Avaśyakavrtti (p. 1) it seems that Sanskrit commentaries on Avaśyaka-sūtra must have been brief and succinct. Ilence Ac. Haribhadra wrote an extensive commentary on it, which is not available at present. But he himself refers to it by the word mayā. We find support to this in Avaśyaka-Tippaņa written by Maladhārī Hemacandra. Ac. Haribhadrasūri's another Sanskrit cominentary on the complete Avaśyakasūtra and the Niryukti thereon is available and printed. It is known by the name Sisyahilā. Its extent is twenty two thousand ślokas. Some extracts from Avaśyakasūtra, the Bhāsya
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