Jaina Literature form earliest time to century 10th AD

Author(s): Sagarmal Jain
Publisher: Z_Shwetambar_Sthanakvasi_Jain_Sabha_Hirak_Jayanti_Granth_012052.pdf

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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 (Mahāparijñā) and the major portion of Drstivada are said to be extinct. So far as the subjectmatter of 7th chapter of Acaranga 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. Pürvagata, the third part of Drstivada, 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 Dṛstivada 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 Jñātādharmakatha, Antakyddaśänga, Anuttraupapatika and Vipäkasūtra. 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
1.
2.
3.
Angactilika
4.
Vaggaculikā
5.
Vivahaculikā
6.
Aruņotapāda
7. Varuņotapāda
8.
Garuņotapāda
9. Dharaṇotapada 10. Vaiśramaṇotapāda 11. Velandarotapāda 12. Devendrotapāda 13. Utthanaśruta
14. Samutthanaśruta 15. Nagaprajñaptipanikā. Utkalikasūtra not available presently
Kṣullikävimänapravibhakti Mahallikavimǎnapravibhakti
1. Kalpikäkalpika
2. Culakalpikā
3. Mahāprajñāpanā 4. Pramadapramäda 5. Pauruşimandala
6. Mandala Praveśa
7. Vidyacarana Viniscaya
8. Dhyanavibhakti
9. Vitaraga Śruta
10. Viharakalpa
11. Caranavidhi.
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About the subject-matter of these Kalika and Utkalikasūtras, not extant today, it is very difficult to