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JAINA MONASTIC JURISPRUDENCE the actual working of monastic jurisprudence in Jaina church.
Another point worth notice regarding these texts is that their date is uncertain. Though the tradition holds that Bhadrabāhu, the sixth pontiff after Lord Mahāvīra, was responsible for the editing of these three texts on the basis of the information given in the ninth Puvva (Rșimandalastotra, 166), the evidence is inconclusive, for we do not know what items contributed to make the ninth Puvva. Moreover, it is well-known that there were more that one Bhadrabāhu known to the Jaina church history. However, as the case stands, we are not in a position to look beyond the tradition in which case we have to assign these texts to 4th/3rd century B.C. as this particular Bhadrabāhu is said to have flourished a couple of centuries after Mahāvīra, -- the exact date of his death being 170 years after the Nirvāņa of Mahāvīra.
The date of Nisīhasutta is again a problem and it is not possible to be dogmatic about it. However, there is a remarkable similarity between this text and the Vavahāra sutta as to the forms of punishment and the categories of transgressions. Emphasizing the similarity between Nisīha and the Culäs of Āyārangasutta, WINTERNITZ opines that both these texts probably had a common source of origin. (WINTERNITZ, HIL, pp. 464-65).
As to the Mahānisīha, we are on still more unstable grounds. The nature of the language and the mention of Tantric practices and non-canonical texts in this work are perplexing. On the strength of these points, WINTERNITZ puts it to a period later than that of Pinda and OhaNijjuttis and goes to the extent of questioning its position as a text of the canon.
One point regarding Dasāsuyakhhandha referred to above, may be worthwhile mention. Here in this text is a portion designated as the 'sāmāyārī' dealing with the rules of rain-retreat etc. This has been attributed to Bhadrabāhu. Yet when we find references to persons and church units posterior to Bhadrabāhu, we have to conclude
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