History of Canonical Literature of Jainas

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

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THE CANONICAL LITERATURE OF THE JAINAS
(xiii) It may be that the 3 Prakrta verses quoted by Bhaskara I in his
com. on v. 10 of the Ganitapāda of the Aryabhatīya of
Āyrabhasa I, may be belonging to some extinct Agama'. (xiv) Rājāditya (1120 A. D.) has written Jaina-ganitasütrodaharana.2 It
may be that the examples given here may have something to
do with the Āgamas and their exegis. Alchemy- The first verse of Dasaveyāliya mentions the process of preparing gold.3 Verse 336 of Āvassayanijjutti does the same.
The science of medicine-Some topics dealing with this subject have been already dealt with (vide p. 145). So it now remains to add that Thāna (VIII; s. 611) gives us names of the 8 kinds of Ayurveda, and Viāhapannatti deals with the medicinal properties of certain articles of food.
Modern branches of knowledge – Pannavanā provides us with information pertaining to metaphysics and Physics, and Nandī regarding psychology and logic. Jīvājīvābhigama gives us some information about geology. Jambuddivapannatti gives us an idea about cosmology, in its own way. Elements of chemistry can be gleaned from Pannavaņā which deals with ontology, too. As regards biology, at least some information can be gathered from Panhāvāgaraña (s. 3), and Dasaveyāliya (II, 65; IV; V, 1, 70, and 73; V, 2, 14, 16, 18 and 20-24; VI, 64; IX, 1, 4; IX, 2, 1; and IX, 1).6 In Anga V (s. 324) names of certain trees are given, and in s. 274, food of trees is discussed. In Pannavaņā (I, s. 19-26) several items pertaining to vanaspati are mentioned. In Ayāra (s. 47) it is stated that the organism of vanaspati is akin to that of humanity. Its s. 54 mentions a number of motives which lead to the destruction of the trasa and its S. 49 the 8 varieties of trasa.
See Dr. B. Datta's article entitled as A lost Jaina treatise on Arithmetic and
published in "The Jaina Antiquary (vol. II, No. 2, pp. 38-41, September 1936). 2. See my introduction (p. x) to Ganitatilaka.
See Appendix III of my translation of Caturvimsatiprabandha. In Appendix I Gāhāju yalathui of Padalipta Sūri is given along with its avacūri. The latter
interprets this hymn whereby a base metal can be turned into gold. 4. See pp. 116, 136, 137.
This notes two types of serpents Gandhana and Agandhana. In the 5th Anga (XV; s. 547) there is a reference to a kind of serpent known as Drstivisasarpa. He is
alluded to in Kumāravālapadiboha, Abhayakumāracaritra and Seübandha (IV, 50). 6. For details see my article "श्रीदशवैकालिकसूत्रनुं दिग्दर्शन याने एक आर्हत आगमर्नु अवलोकन" published
in Citramayajagat (p. 248, Dec. 1932).