History of Canonical Literature of Jainas

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

Page 235

THE CANONICAL LITERATURE OF THE JAINAS
Some scholars go to the length of suggesting that the egattha we come across in the Nijjuttis is a progenitor of lexicography. If so, it immensely adds to the value of the canonical literature of the Jainas. I may add that at times the synonyms are purely Deśya words,1 and hence they are very useful for the study of languages of olden India.
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Nikkheva2-Nikkheva is another constituent of Nijjutti, and it seems to be a special feature of the Jaina literature. I think it owes its origin to anekāntavāda popularly known as syadvāda. It leaves no room for confusion so far as metaphysical discussions are concerned. For, every object is denoted by a word, and every word is usually seen to be used in four senses viz. nāman, sthapana, dravya and bhāva. Out of them dravya has further varieties, and they are to be met with, in several Jaina works e. g. Aṇuogaddāra (s. 8-27). Here the word āvassaya is discussed, and all the varieties pertaining to it are noticed therein.
Nirutta-Nirukta is an etymological interpretation. It is a name of one of the six Vedängas, and it contains glossarial explanation of obscure words occurring in the Vedas. It is also a name of Yaska's com. on the Nighantu; but it may be noted that this is not the name given by Yaska himself. This topic of nirukta (Pr. nirutta) is discussed in Aṇuogaddāra (s. 130; p. 150a) etc. Some of the words for which niruttas occur in Nijjuttis are noted by me in Chapter VI. So I shall here simply add that in v. 188 of Kappanijjutti with its Bhāsa, nirutta is defined, and its two varieties viz. sutta-nirutta and attha-nirutta are mentioned, and in v. 2930 of Dasaveyaliyanijjutti3 the word ajjhayana is derived. All the extant Nijjuttis more or less indulge in the discussion of niruttas. So it will be a matter of great pleasure, if some one undertakes to collect and coordinate them; for, it will be then easy to compare these etymologies with ones discussed elsewhere. This is another instance how the Indian literature gets enriched by Jaina contributions.
1. See Haribhadra Suri's com. (p. 17b) on Dasaveyäliya.
2.
The nikkhevas of several words have been already noted. So it will suffice if I add that those of mangala, inda, nandi, suya, sutta, gantha and vayaṇa are treated in Kappanijjutti mixed up with its Bhasa in its verses 5, 12-15, 24, 175-177, 178, 178 and 185 respectively.
3.
Haribhadra Suri in his com. on this work mentions etymologies of some words eg धर्म (p. 21 ), विषय (p. 22), चरित्र (p. 234 ), श्रमण (p. 234 ) etc.