History of Canonical Literature of Jainas

Author(s): Hiralal R Kapadia
Publisher: Shardaben Chimanbhai Educational Research Centre

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A HISTORY OF THE CANONICAL LITERATURE OF THE JAINAS
Some even go to the length of saying that the 1st ajjhayana of the 1st suyakkhandha is the oldest of all its ajjhayanas, and is written in the most archaic language. If this is correct, we can say that there are at least three strata in Āyāra : (a) the very first ajjhayana, (b) the remaining ones of the 1st suyakkhandha and (c) the 2nd suyakkhandha.
We may now turn to the contents of the Ayāra. As its very name suggests, it deals with rules and regulations pertaining to the conduct of the Jaina clergy, and it is thus an example of caranakaranānuyoga. Uvāsagadasā which has for its subject-matter the discipline of the Jaina laity, may be looked upon as its compliment. As regards the details about the contents of Āyāra, the titles of one and all the ajjhayaņas indicate them. Even then it may be pointed out that ahimsā is held out as an ideal, and the means to refrain from himsā and the rigidity of the monastic life are here treated at length. To conclude, the 1st Cūlā deals with topics associated with the begging of food, a couch, clothes and a bowl, and with the modes of speech and the regulation of possession.
The 2nd Cūlā gives rules regarding religious postures, the places of study and those for easing nature. Moreover, it points out the places the clergy should avoid e.g. the places where musical instruments are being played upon. In short, the clergy should withstand the temptations of sound, colour etc.
Before I deal with the 3rd Cūlā, I may mention that Nisīha has certain suttas agreeing with those of the 1st two Cūlās.
1. The 5 Cūlās are not the composition of the one and the same author, as can be seen
from p. 105, fn. 1. So they present different strata according to their chronological order of composition. Moreover, if it is true that the verses and their fragments which are liberally interspersed with the prose of the 1st section, are older than the corresponding passages in prose-a view held by some scholars, it furnishes us with
another kind of strata. 2. Vasunandin in his com. Acaravrtti on Vattakera's Mūlāyāra observes that Vattakera
intended to give in this work of his, a brief summary of the Ayāra. Cf. A His. of Ind.
Lit. (vol. II, p. 577). 3. "31197 H ela za 3TOR:" -Siddhasena Gani's com. (p. 84) on Tattvārtha. 4. Here it is said that the words like hole and gole should not be used; for, they are
abusive terms. They are translated in S. B. E. (vol. XXII, p. 151) as "you loon ! you lout !" In the fn. of this page we have :My conjectural translation is based on the meaning of the Sanskrit words hoda, golâ." It may be noted that hole, gole and vasule occur in Dasaveyāliya (VII, 14), and the words hola, vasula and gola in Nāyādhammakahā (1, 9; s. 84).