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JAINA CONCEPTION OF THE HOLY PENTAD
ņamo arihantānam, namo siddhāņam, namo āyariyāṇam, namo uvajjhāyāṇam, namo loe savvasāhūņam.
The Prakrit śloka, containing praise of this five-fold obeisance, is found in the Āvaśyak a sütra but not in the Şarkhanạāgama."
From the preceding notes it is clear that the sacred formula of five-fold obeisance has been found recorded in at least four sacred texts of early date, viz. Pannavaņāsutta, Bhagavai-vivāhapannatti, Āvassa ya sutta, and the Satkhandāgama.'18 The first three texts belong to the Aga ma collection of Svetāmbara School, while the fourth text belongs to the Digambara School. In the case of the Bhagavati Sūtra, the three editions have given three different readings. In Suttăgame we have namo arihantānam, in Angasuttāni we have namo arahantānam, while in Lalwani's edition we have namo arahantānam.
Finally, it may be pointed out that the inclusion of 'Script' (livi, lipi) and 'Scripture' (suya, sūtra) in the category of invocations, recorded in the Bhagavati Sūtra, points to an old tradition of veneration accorded to the holy word and its written form. It is not known to the present writer when these sixth and seventh members were added to the formula of five-fold obeisance and when or how they came to be dropped from it. Attention may be drawn here to the fact that at the end of several Mahāyānasutras we find eulogy of reciting, writing, copying and preserving the Sutras (Dharmaparyāyas) 42
It appears that the early history of the pañca-namaskāra-mantra is still a matter of controversy, and the conclusions drawn by Professor Roth may or may not be right. The problem has been discussed jointly by the three editors of the Pannavaņāsutta on the one hand, and by Dr. Hiralal Jain on the other. Briefly speaking, their opinions are as follows.
According to Muni Punya vijayaji, Pt. D. Malvania and Pt. Amritlal M. Bhojak, “in all the manuscripts containing only the text of the Prajñāpanāsūtra there is an indication of salutation to the five holy personages. But Āc. Haribhadra and Ac.
41. Sutrāgame, vol. II, Avassayasuttam, p. 1165; Avašyakasūtram, Niyojaka : Muni Sri Kanaiyalalji,
Rajkot, 1958, pp. 45, 66; Şarkhandāgama, vol. I part I, edited by Hiralal Jain, p. 8. 41a. The Sutrāgame edition of Jaina scriptures gives the pañca.namaskāra-mantra at the beginning of
the following other texts--Panha vāgaranam, Jambuddıvapannattı and Suriyapannati, Sutlāgame
vol. I, p. 1199, vol. II, pp. 535 and 753. 42. See Vajracchedika Prajnaparamitāsūtra with the commentary of Asanga, edited and translated
by L.M Joshi, Sarnath : Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, 1978, pp. 43, 68; Saddharmapundarikasūtra, chapter 27; Asfasahasrika Prajāpāramitāsūtra (Darbhanga edition) p. 260iyam prajnaparamita śrotavya udgrahitavya chārayitavyā vacayitavya ... svadhyātavya likhitavya etc.
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