History of Canonical Literature of Jainas

Author(s): Hiralal R Kapadia, Nagin J Shah
Publisher: Prakrit Text Society Ahmedabad

Page 152

THE EXTANT AGAMAS OF THE JAINAS
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divisions styled as uddesas1, and these, too, are further divided into suttas. Abhayadeva Süri observes in his com. (p. 8) on this work that it has 10,000 uddeśakas, 36,000 praśnas2 and 2,88,000 padas. But, in Samavaya (s. 140) and Nandi (s. 49) the numbers for the padas are given as 84,000 and 1,44,000 respectively.
As regards the subject-matter3 various topics are discussed in this work. But since there seems to be no inter-connection between the uddesas of one and the same saä, much less between those of the different saäs, we find that for getting a complete view of any one topic we have often to refer to different uddesas of the various saäs. Śribhagavatīsāra, a chāyānuvāda prepared by Mr. G. J. Patel, however, solves this difficulty; for, he has re-arranged the suttas and grouped them according to the subject they deal with. In doing so he has
1 Saäs 1 to 8, 12, 13, 14, 18, 19 and 20 have each 10 uddesas, the 9th and the 10th have each 34, the 11th 12, 15th none, 16th 14 and 17th 17. Saäs 21 to 41 have the number of their uddesas as under:
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80 (8 vaggas), 60 (6 vaggas), 50 (5 vaggas), 24, 12, 11 (thanas), 11, 11, 11, 11, 28, 28, 124, 124 132, 132, 132, 132, 132, 231 and 196. The saäs 33 and 34 have each 12 ayantarasaäs, and saäs 35 to 40 have each 12 mahājummasaäs.
The significant titles of almost all these uddesas are mentioned in verse, mostly in the beginning of each of the saäs, and the corresponding verse is styled as sangrahaṇīgāthā (vide the beginning of the com. of the 6th saä.)
Most of these prasnas are asked by Indrabhūti Gautama to Lord Mahavira; for, only at times we find that his other pupils Agnibhuti, Vayubhuti, Manditaputra, Makandiputra and Roha, Jayanti (a Śrāvikā), and some non-Jainas ask him a question. In the answers given to these questions by Lord Mahāvīra we come across a queer case (XVIII., 3; s. 619) where Gautama is addressed instead of Makandiputra, though the answer is in connection with the question asked by the latter. This is due to an answer being here reproduced from Pannavana (XV, 1). Vide its com. (p. 742a).
"व्याख्यायन्ते जीवादिगतयो यत्र नयद्वारेण प्ररूपणाः क्रियन्ते सा व्याख्याप्रज्ञप्तिः ।"
Siddhasena Gani's com. (p. 91) on Tattvärtha (1, 20). 4 Anandasägara Süri once said to me that according to his surmise this Anga was a collection of various letcures delivered by Mahavira in different places during his stay in the rainy season. So to say that this is "vihāra-caryā”. The 15th saä is the 15th lecture delivered by him in the 15th year from the year of his omniscience.
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