Jain Journal 1988 10

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

Page 22

OCTOBER, 1988
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laymen, lay-women and the tree of knowledge under which they get the glimpse of the highest truth. Just as a Tirthankara is born after the aradhana of 20 sthanakas, so a Buddha is born after propitiating 10 pāramitās. Jaina Tirthankaras have a lañchana by means of which one can identify the image of a Tirthanakara from a host of other Tirthankaras. It is said that in the spread of Buddhism the personality of Buddha had played an important role, so we can observe that every Jaina Tirthankara is endowed with certain number of atisayas.
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The sermons of the founders of Buddhism and Jainism were listened to with rapt attention by their immediate followers and were later on codified for the good of the large mass of people. The original canons of both the systems were written in Prakrits, i.e. Pali and Ardhamagadhi respectively, but later on Sanskrit was adopted with a view to compete with the language in which the Hindus wrote their scriptures. But, it is to be noted that both Buddha and Mahavira appealed to the large mass of their followers only by preaching in a language which was known to them and which appealed to their heart the most. Naturally it was to be the language of the masses, i.e. the Prakrits. The sacred scriptures of the Bauddhas are known as the Tripitakas, those of the Jainas are known as the Ganipitaka or Agamas which are 45 in number. To explain these texts tikās, cürnis, tabbās, avacüris, bhāṣya, balavabodha etc. were composed. The immediate disciples of the Tirthankaras known as the Ganadharas were each responsible for the composition of the Dvādaśāngas. With the help of Upali and Ananda Kasyapa settled the Vinayapitaka and the Dhammapiṭaka. According to later tradition Kasyapa himself composed the Abhidharmapitaka but this is not historical and is even contradicted by the contents of Abhidharma itself. To settle and codify the sermons of both the teachers various councils were held at different times. The Buddhists had four councils or Sangitis and the Jainas had three councils. These were convened at different times under the presidentship of strong and powerful personalities in order to give a form to the canonical literature. In the case of Lord Buddha there were decensions right during his life period. After his death there were two main splits known as the Mahayana and the Hinayana. Likewise Jainism too had two main divisions known as the Svetambaras and the Digambaras. The first Buddhist council was convened at Rajagrha under the patronage of king Ajatasatru and Kasyapa was the guiding personality. The second council was convened after 100 years in Vaisali. The third council was called in 245 B. C. in the 18th year of the reign of king Asoka Priyadarsin. Maudgaliputra was at the helm of affairs, and the council was held at Pataliputra. Maudgaliputra composed a work known as Kathāvatthu