History of Canonical Literature of Jainas

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

Page 126

THE EXTANT AGAMAS OF THE JAINAS
मंसेण वा मच्छेण वा बहुकण्टएण" has been used in the metaphorical sense as can be seen from the illustration of given by Patanjali in discussing a Vārtika ad Pāṇini (III, 3, 91) and from Vacaspatimiśra's commentary on Nyāyasūtra (IV, 1, 54). He has concluded: "This meaning of the passage is therefore, that a monk should not accept as alms any substance of which only a part can be eaten and a great part must be rejected."
(iv) The date of the composition of Ayara can be settled from the metres used in it. An attempt in this direction was made by the late Prof. H. Jacobi in S. B. E. (vol. XXII, intro. XLI-XLII). There he has said :
"Again, ancient Påli works seem to contain no verses in the Arya metre; at least there is none in the Dhammapadam, nor have I found one in other works. But both the Åkårånga and Sûtrakritânga contain each a whole lecture in Âryâ verses of a form which is decidedly older than, and probably the parent of the common Åryâ...... From all these facts we must conclude that the chronological position of the oldest parts of the Gaina literature is intermediate between the Pâli literature and the composition of the Lalita Vistara."
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In this connection the late K. H. Dhruva has observed in his Evolution of Gujarati verse3 (p. 171) that the German scholar Jacobi believes that the composition of Suttanipāta is followed by that Dhammapada, and those of Ayara and Suyagaḍa are even later than those of these Bauddha works. Further, on p. 173, Dhruva says that there is a slip on the part of Jacobi in naming Gāthānustubhi samsṛṣṭi" as the olden Ary and in assigning to Ayara and Suyagaḍa a date later than that of Dhammapada, on the
1. The pertinent lines are : "कश्चिन्मांसार्थी मत्स्यान् सशकलान् सकण्टकानाहरति नान्तरीयकत्वात् । यावदादेयं तावदादाय शकलकण्टकान्युत्सृजति । एवमिहापि". This passage is repeated ad verbatim in the Mahabhasya ad IV, 1 92.
2. "तस्मान्मांसार्थीव कण्टकानुद्धृत्य मांसमश्नन्नानर्थं कण्टकजन्यमाप्नोतीत्येवं प्रज्ञावान् दुःखमुद्धत्येन्द्रियादिसाधनं सुखं भोक्ष्यते ।"
3. This work is written in Gujarātī and is named as under :“પદ્યરચનાની ઐતિહાસિક આલોચના.”
4. This metre is used for Thiparinņā and Uvahāṇasuya. The latter is edited as it is and also as it should be from the metrical view-point by K. H. Dhruva in Evolution of Gujarati verse (pp. 185-196).