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Post-Mahāvīra Period and the Contribution of Jainism
The Svetāmbara canon
There is no unanimity among scholars regarding the number of books which constitute the canon of the Svetāmbara Jainas.242 Scholars like Winternitz and Weber hold that the canon of the Svetāmbaras consists of 12 Angas, 12 Upāngas, 10 Painnas, 6 Cheya-suttas, 4 Mūla-suttas, and two miscellaneous texts called Nandi and Anuyogdāra 243 This view is generally accepted by scholars.244
The Svetāmbara canon together with its exegetical literature was the outcome of a literary activity which extended from the date of the Pataliputra Council245 to the seventeenth century AD.246 Scholars like Winternitz and Jacobi treat this canon as authentic because the traditions embodied in it are corroborated by the inscriptions found at Mathurā and other evidence 247 But this group of texts called "Siddhānta' or 'Agama' is disowned by the Digambaras who treat it as unauthoritative.248 Taking into consideration the researches of scholars like Jacobi, Weber, Winternitz, Charpentier and others, the Svetāmbara canon can be arranged in order of descending antiquity into the following manner (1) the Angas (2) the Mula-sūtras, (3) the Cheda-sūtras, and lastly (4) the Upāngas and the rest of the canon.249
The Digambara canon
The Digambara canon may be broadly divided into the Angas, the Angbāhyas
242. HJM, p. 16. 243. Ibid., pp. 16-18. 244. Ibid., p. 16; LDJC, p. 31. 245. The Pătaliputra Council was summoned by Sthūlabhadra in the third century BC. See
HJM, p. 18. 246. HJM, p. 34. 247. Ibid., pp. 22-3. 248. Ibid., p. 16. 249. Ibid., pp. 22-34.
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