Jain Journal 1979 10

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 10

OCTOBER, 1979
available Prakrit records which deserve to be classed as literature. Moreover these inscriptions, as observed by Bloch,11 are the first authentic documents marked and dated with a relative precision in the whole range of Indian History. They are more than thirty and are incised on rocks, boulders, pillars and walls of caves. The fourteen rock-edicts, found in seven recensions, are simple but forceful and they echo the great monarch's appealing voice. They depict the picture of the state and also reflect the monarch's great personality that championed the cause of Ahiṁsā and peace and yearned for the welfare of the subjects. Amongst the numerous Prakrit inscriptions belonging to the post-Asokan period, special mention may be made of the Hathigumpha inscriptions of King Kharavela (2nd century B.C.) and the Nasik cave-inscriptions of Vasisthiputra Pulumavi (2nd century A.D.) for their informative value and literary qualities. It is striking to note that inscriptions in India are all in Prakrit from 300 B.C. to 100 A.D.; and during this period Sanskrit was eclipsed by Prakrit, to which fact stand as the first witness, the Asokan inscriptions clearly indicating that the official language of the then Magadhan Empire was Prakrit. Here, again, we should recapitulate what Dr. Katre says : “These Prakrit inscriptions and coin legends continued for nearly eight centuries, and during the latter half of this period competed with Sanskrit, both as media of instruction and cultural languages."12
After inscriptions we enter the realm of canonical literature which can be said to comprise the Ardhamagadhi canon and the Pro-canon of the Digambaras.13 The Adhamagadhi canon consists of 45 books composed in different periods, the texts like the Ācārānga Sūtra belonging to as early a period as 400 B.C. This canon, as is available now, was finally redacted and put to writing in 454 A.D. The subjects covered by these texts are encyclopaedic with religion, philosophy, metaphysics, ontology, logic, ethical teachings, moral exhortations, didactic tales, cosmography, historical and semi-historical legends, etc. The Pro-canon of the Digambaras is generally divided into four parts : (1) Prathamanuyoga, (2) Caraṇānuyoga, (3) Karaņānuyoga and (4) Dravyānuyoga. The Satkhandāgamas, the works of Sivakotyacarya, Kundakunda, Vattakera, Yogindradeva, Nemicandra, etc. are highly esteemed. The value of all these canonical works of the two sects lies in the fact that they laid down for the masses higher values of life like Ahiṁsā and other ethical principles, which influenced the contemporary and later life of
11 And noted by Dr. Jha, Ibid., p.6. 12 Vide Ibid., p.7. 13 There is also the Pali canon of the Buddhists that comes under this category.
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