Jain Agam Sahitya

Author(s): K R Chandra
Publisher: Prakrit Text Society Ahmedabad

Page 88

A COMPARATIVE AND CRITICAL NOTE ON UVĀSAGADASÃO
AND RATNA-KARANDAKA-ŚRĀVAKĀCĀRA
Dr. M. D. Vasantharaj, Mysore.
Among all the living beings man stands supreme because of his thinking capacity or wisdom, and again because of this wisdom he is the master of himself in gaining whatever is good for him and also in warding off whatever is evil. It is as a result of this that man has built up a social order of life which, in one way or the other, is established wherever he lives. The primary aim of this social order is to enable man to live peacefully and happily. This compels him to accept certain principles and the essence of those principles can be expressed by the term 'Live and Let Live'; of course, with a varying degree in observing the same. When a person does not want to be injured by any other person, then he will have to follow the principle of not injuring the other person. When this principle is observed in the form of a vow then it becomes Dharma and the same is Jainacāritra Dharma.
The cāritra dharma is classified into two categories depending on the individual's capacity for observance :(1) Munidharma and (2) Grhasthadharma, or well known either as Upāsaka or Śrāvaka Dharma. The subject of the latter constitutes the seventh Anga known by the title Uvāsaga-dasão in svetām bara tradition ard Uvāsayajjhayaṇam in Digambara tradition. The former of these two has been traditionally handed down till today where as the latter is not available today, but only references to its rame and contents are found in other works such as Sarvārtha-Siddhi, Dhavalā etc.. just as references to other Arga literature are found.
In Uvāsagadasão, the code of conduct of Upāsaka is detailed in a form of narration mainly in the Ānanda Śrāvaka story, the first story. Ananda was a wealthy person and was respected by one and all including the King. One day he attends the sermon of Bhagavān Mahavira and as a result becomes an ardent devotee