Jaina Ontology

Author(s): K K Dixit
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 17

JAINA ONTOLOGY
by-one correspondence between the eleven Angas and twelve Upāngas but for this there is no justification whatsoever). Even then, the question of subject-matter has to be pursued still further. The Prakırnakas and the Mūlasutras (minus Avasyaka) are mostly of the nature of so many collections of ethical exhortations but there are exceptions ; for example, Tandulavaicārika deals with the problems of physiology, Ganividyā with those of astrology, while four chapters of Uttaradhyayana (viz. 28, 33, 34, 36) and one of Dasavaikālika (viz. 4) deal with the problems of philosophy. Of the Upāngas five (collectively called Nirayavalikā) are collections of didactic stories, Süryaprajñapti and Candraprajñapti (two nominally different but identically worded texts) deal with the problems of astronomy and related mythology, Jambūdvīpaprajñapti with those of cosmogony, mythology and astronomy, Jivājivābhigama with those of cosmogony, mythology and philosophy, Prajñāpanā with those of philosophy; the material collected in Aupapātika and Rājaprašniya is thoroughly miscellaneous--but the latter text contains an important philosophical dialogue. So to complete the account, let us also have a look at the subject matter of the eleven Angas. Here again five texts-viz. Jñatrdbarmakathā, Upăsakadašā, Antakrddasa, Anuttaraupapatikadaša, Vipakašruta-are collections of didactic stories, while Prašnavyakarana (suspected to be a post 6th Century AD, work) deals with the problems of ethics. Similarly, Ācārāngasūtra and Sūtrakstāngasūtra are mostly of the nature of two collections of ethical exhortations but the first Adhyayana of the former and occasional passages of the latter come out with philosophical formulas. Lastly, Bhagavatisātra on the one hand and Sthānāngasūtra and Samaväyängasutra on the other are meant to be an encyclopedea of Jaina thought--the former in the form of a collection of full-fledged dialogues where Mahāvīra is alleged to be the chief spokesman, the latter in the form of a number-wise cataloguing of all sorts of entities. On the basis of this much information it should be possible for a student of philosophy to pick out Āgamic texts that specially concern him ; they are the relevant portions of five Angas viz. Ācāränga, Sūtrakıtānga, Sthānānga, Samavāyānga and Bhagavati-, three Upāngas viz. Rājaprašniya Jivabhigama and Prajñāpanā, two Mūlasūtras viz. Dasavaikalıka and Uttaradhyayana, two Culikāsūtras viz. Anuyogadvāra and Nandi. But the material contained in these texts requires very careful handling if the results yielded are to be really worthwhile. And in this connection the greatest danger arise from the tendency to read into an earlier text positions that came to be formulated only in later times. The question is important and deserves an independent treatment.
Umāsyāti on Moksamärga, Samyagdarsana and Saptatattva :
The students of Jaina philosophy are accustomed to form their basic notions about the subject on the basis of a reading of Umāsvāti's Tattvārthādhigamasūtra--particularly because the text happens to enjoy the support