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 The word 'chedasutra' along with niryukti' is used by sākatāyana alias Pālyakīrti, a yāpaniya, in Amoghavrtti, a com. on his own work Śākatāyana-sabdānuśāsana (IV, 4, 133-140). This Amoghavrtti is composed sometimes between V.S. 771 and V.S. 824.
Anga - Anga is a word common to both the Prāksta and Samskrta languages. It is a term to be met with in the Vaidika literature wherein it signifies the l'six auxiliary sciences (helpful in the study of the Vedas) viz. (1) Śikṣā (phonetcs), (2) Chandas (prosody), (3) Vyakarana (grammar), (4) Nirukta (philology), (5) Kalpa (ritualism) and (6) Jyotis (astronomy). In the Bauddha literature, too, we come across this word. For instance, in the Majjhimanikāya 22 (I, p. 133) and in several passages in the Anguttaranikāya, there is mention of a division of the Canon into 9 Angas viz. (1) Sutta (prose sermons), (2) Geyya (sermons in a mixture of prose and verse), (3) Veyyâkarana (explanations, commentaries), (4) Gāthā (stanzas), (5) Udāna (pithy sayings), (6) Itivuttaka (short speeches beginning with the words "Thus spake the Buddha'), (7) Jātaka (stories of the former births of Buddha), (8) Abbhutadhamma (reports of miracles) and (9) Vedalla (teachings in the form of questions and answers). This is what is suggested by the late Prof. Winternitz in his work entitled A Histroy of Indian Literature (vol. II, p. 10). He there adds :
"This division does not allude to a canon complete in itself, or to definite books, but is only meant to classify the various types of Buddhist texts according to their form and contents."
As already noted, in the Jaina literature, too,we find this word.2 Herein, it stands for a limb of the śruta-purusa, there being 12 such limbs, in all.
1. Cf. the lines reproduced from the com. on Anuogaddāra on p. 32. 2. For instance see p. 23 and the following line from Vivāgasuya (1):
"दसमस्स अङ्गस्स पण्हावागरणाणं अयमढे पन्नते, एक्कारसमस्स णं भन्ते ! अङ्गस्स विवागसुयस्स"