Jaina Literature and Philosophy a Critical Approach

Author(s): Sagarmal Jain
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith

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Jaina Literature [ From Earliest Time to c. 10th A. D. ]
Unfortunately, all the above mentioned works are not available, today. Some of them are lost. Out of twelve Anga Agamas, the 7th chapter of Acaranga (Mahaparijña) and the major portion of Dṛṣṭivada are said to be extinct. So far as the subjectmatter of 7th chapter of Acaränga is concerned, in my opinion, it was mainly related to the Jinakalpa or strict code of conduct of naked monks. When the followers of this strict code of conduct disappeared gradually, no serious efforts were made to restore it and finally it got lost. Likewise, the twelfth Anga Drstivada, said to be containing five parts (i) Parikarma, (ii) Sutra, (iii) Pūrvagata, (iv) Anuyoga and (v) Culika, seems to have dealt mainly with the philosophical doctrines of other schools of thought including the Parsva tradition. Pūrvagata, the third part of Dṛṣṭivada, exclusively, dealt with the doctrines of Parsva tradition, later on accepted as the doctrines of Mahavira. All these works were preserved only through oral tradition, because, Jaina monks and nuns were strictly prohobited to write on palm-leaves, those days. That study and preservation of the Jaina literature, written on palm-leaves were prohibited due to the strict observance of non-violence. They were of the opinion that in the process of writing, studying and preserving the palm-leaf works, the injury to the Jivas was inevitable. That is why, they made no efforts to restore them in written form. This was the reason behind the loss of Drstiväda as well as some other Agamas. In my opinion, Drstivada, in particular, became extinct, because of following factors firstly, its contents were not fully in accordance with Mahavira's tradition and were mostly related with philosophical discussions of other traditions and schools, hence unable to arouse interest in Jaina monks. Secondly, the concepts, accepted by Mahavira's tradition, were included in other Agamic texts also, hence Jaina monks did not make any effort to preserve the Purva literature. Thirdly, due to the oral tradition, other Anga agamas could not remain
intact. We find that earlier subject-matter of Praśnavyakarana has been completely changed. Similarly, partial changes as well as some additions are also noted in the subject-matter of Jñatadharmakatha, Antakṛddaśänga, Anuttraupapatika and Vipakasutra. Among the secondary canons (Anga-bahya agamas) following works, known as Kalika and Utkalika, respectively were also lost in due course of time. The details of such canons are as under: Kalikasutra not available presently
Kṣullikavimǎnapravibhakti Mahallikavimānapravibhakti
1.
2.
3.
Angaculika
4.
Vaggaculikā
5.
Vivahaculika
6.
Aruņotapăda
7. Varunotapada Garunotapada
8.
9.
Dharapotapada 10. Vaiśramanotapāda 11. Velandarotapăda 12. Devendrotapada 13. Utthanaśruta 14. Samutthānaśruta 15. Nagaprajñaptipanika. Utkalikasūtra not available presently
1. Kalpikäkalpika
2. Culakalpika
3. Mahaprajñāpanā 4. Pramadapramäda 5. Paurusimandala
6. Mandala Praveśa 7. Vidyacaraṇa Viniscaya
8. Dhyanavibhakti
9. Vitaraga Śruta
10. Viharakalpa
11. Caraṇavidhi.
3
About the subject-matter of these Kālika and Utkālikasūtras, not extant today, it is very difficult to