Doctrine of Liberation in Indian Religion

Author(s): Shivkumarmuni
Publisher: Munshiram Manoharlal Publisher's Pvt Ltd New Delhi

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20 THE DOCTRINE OF LIBERATION IN INDIAN RELIGIONS conformity with the fundamental preachings of Lord Mahāvīra, the sutras are regarded as the words of Lord Mahāvīra.
It is believed that the essence of the preachings of Lord Mahāvīra was preserved in the fourteen pūrvas which were handed down to the eleven ganadharas by Lord Mahāvīra. In course of time the knowledge of the fourteen pūrvas was lost, and it is said that by the time of Candragupta Maurya Bhadrabāhu was the only śrutakevali who knew the fourteen pūrvas. During the reign of Candragupta Maurya there was a great famine. It is believed that Candragupta Maurya, a follower of Jaina faith, left the throne and went to south India with Bhadrabähu and a number of Jaina mendicants. Some of the monks who stayed at Pāțaliputra, were kept under the guardianship of Sthūlabhadra. Due to the famine which lasted for twelve years, the Jaina monastic life suffered a great set back, and the Jaina church was disrupted. When the famine was over, a council was convened by Sthulabhadra at Pataliputra to collect the portions of the canon which were disappearing, as the monks could not preserve them in their memory during the period of famine. As Bhadrabāhu was the only person at that time who knew all the fourteen pūrvas, Sthulabhadra was authorised by the council to learn them from him. But he was not allowed to preach the last four pūrvas by Bhadrabāhu, hence only the ten pūrvas were compiled in the council of Påtaliputra.
In the ninth century after the Nirvāṇa of Mahāvīra, a second council of Jaina monks was held at Mathură under the leadership of Acārya Skandila and they collected the available knowledge of the canon. Another similar council was held at Valabhi under the leadership of Nagarjuna sūri. The credit of holding this third council goes to the leader Devardhigani Ksamāśramana who took initiation for writing down all the canonical texts. Whatever canonical literature we have at the present time the credit for that goes to the perceptor Devardhigani Ksamāśramaņa.
The Svetāmbara canon is divided into six groups of texts, known as (1) Angas, (2) Upāngas, (3) Mülasūtras (4) Chedasūtras, (5) Culikasutras and (6) Prakirnakas. All these works are written in Ardhamāgadhi Prakrit language. The Angas are twelve :
1. Āyāranga ( Ācārānga) 2. Sūyagadanga (Sūtrakstānga). 3. Thānanga (Sthanānga). 4. Samavāyanga.