Critical Introduction to Panhavagara

Author(s): Amulyachandra Sen
Publisher: Amulyachandra Sen

Page 17

- 10 - ganas - features which are absent in the vedhas occurring in Uvay and Jiņacariya, as Jacobi's analysis shows This indicates a weakening of the rules of vedha composition and we are entitled to postulate some sapse of time since the classical vedha period to allow for this weakening to have taken place
Scholars have only just begun', says Winternitz-), “to distinguish between the earlier and the later strata of the Canon" and he refers to the valuable work done by Schubring in this direction In his introductory essay to Worte Mahaviras, Schubring adopts the following scheme in determining the chronology of the metncal portions of the Canon, 1 the oldest stratum consists of Tristubh, Jagati, Vaitāliya, Au
pacchandasaka, Sloka, and Arya (or Gáthã, of the old form), 2. the second stratum consists of those texts in which the Sloka
predominates, 3 the thưd stratum consists of those texts in which the Vedha
predominates, 4 the last stratum consists of those texts in which Gäthá or Arya
of the common form predominates The present text of Panhāv. therefore belongs prima facie to the third stratum But we have already seen how the weakening of the vedha rules must be supposed to separate our text from the classical' vedha epoch Schubring also finds that the Arya is of frequent occurrence in texts of the vedha epoch, but nesther the other fore-runners of the vedha nor even the Āryä appears in our text and this should strengthen our conclusion that the Panhāv belongs to a post-vedha epoch The occurrence of a few instances of Gathā brings our text to so late a stage in the vedhaepoch as to synchronise with the beginning of the last stratum of metrical composition It is significant that although nearly the whole of the work is composed in vedha, our author gives the program of the ti'o main parts of the work (1 e the opening verses of chaps 1 and 6) in Gáthã although he starts composing vedhas almost in the same breath
1) Hist of ind Lit, vol II, p 435