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Scientific Contents of Jaina Canons : Astapāhuậa by Kundakunda
Dr. N. L. Jain
Introduction
Jainas form a sinall community in India professing pluralistic philosophy propagated by Lord Mahāvira and his predecessors in pre-Christian era. They have specific contributions to the various branches of Indian science like Mathematics, astronomy, chemistry and philosophy. However, this field remains unexplored for quite long and it is only recently that academicians all over the world have taken great interest in assessing this contribution in proper perspective. Several authors have shown that Jaina canons have a large amount of material, which if it would have
nown, the progress of science would have been definitely much accelerated. Attempts are, therefore, being made to study these canons for their scientific contents and their critical and comparative evaluation. This paper is also an attempt in this direction.
Definition and specification of Canonical literature
Indologists including non-sectarian Jainologists have to face great difficulty in defining and specifying the word Canon or Agama. Normally, this word came later than Sruta (heard),' i. e. knowledge gained by hearing from the great tradition of seers. Once these words became synonymous but now Agama has dethroned Sruta as it is defined as containing consistent and non-controversial knowledge while the Sruta may be otherwise also. Agama is said to be more weighty than Śruta as it is said to be older. However, this author feels them to be equally positioned in the sense that both of thein contain records of the knowledge of the past. Their authenticity is based on the specific qualities after Mahāvira. It is said that his teachings were in short which were developed by his disciples.
Besides definition, specification of cīgama or Canon poses more complexity. Different opinions are available in literature about the
preservation or modification of the teachings during the first one
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