Jain Legend Vol 2

Author(s): Hastimal Maharaj, Shuganchand Jain, P S Surana
Publisher: Hastimal Maharaj Shugan C Jain P S Surana

Page 320

Serving his Guru with utmost sincerity and constantly studying, he acquired the knowledge of the eleven Amgas and one P_rva.
At first, he was appointed as group- c rya and after rya D yaga attained heavenly abode, he was nominated as discourse- c rya. Some authors opine that he was the disciple and successor of discourse- c rya d yaga; whereas others hold that he was the disciple and successor of rya Lohitya.
After a time lapse of 150 years of the two recessions-the Mathura and the Vallabh recital organized under the auspices of c rya Skandila and N g rjuna respectively, Dev rddhi noted that his disciples were not able to retain the knowledge in their memory. The lack of memory of scriptures resulted in lethargy and hesitation in repeated revision of the scriptural texts. Dev rddhi realised that it is impossible to safeguard the sacred texts without recording them in a written form. By making them to write down the text, two goals will be met at the same time-apart from reading and learning, it develops the concentration and averts the risk of extinction of the scriptures and the knowledge passes on to the succeeding generations. Therefore, he gave the scriptures a textual form.
Thus, to save the congregation from the extinction of knowledge & from laziness, the monks decided to give it a written form. According to Jain tradition, it is believed that during the tenure of rya Rak ita and rya Skandila, some portions of the scriptures were written and made into a text. However, the re-manifestation of the holy canons in a systematic order and in a fully written form was ascribed to Dev rdhiga K am rama a in Vallabh.
With the permission of Jain congregation, Dev rdhiga K am rama a convened a meeting of a grand and of all the monks and ascetics in V.N. 980 in Vallabh. He listened to the recitals of the gamas, whether complete or incomplete, whatever one could recollect, and recompiled all the available matter in a systematic order and eventually gave them a text form. The differences in the recitals were replaced by N g rjun y verses, and finally the holy scriptures were given the text form. It is believed that because of his penance, self-discipline, austerities, and the services done to the sacred knowledge of the scriptures, deities &
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