Jaina Ontology

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

Page 25

CHAPTER II
THE AGE OF ĀGAMAS I ITS GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS AND ITS THREE STAGES Need for a Historical Approach towards the Āgamic Material :
The earliest age in the history of Jaina philosophical speculation is to be called the Age of Āgamas simply because the Āgamas happen to be the earliest available Jaina texts and because these texts happen to contain portions dealing with philosophical problems. But to work out the characteristic features of the Jaina philosophical speculation of the Age of Āgamas is a somewhat difficult task. Of course, there are people who doubt the very authenticity of the Agamic texts, but even if this doubt is dismissed as essentially groundless there remains the question as to what must have been the precise conditions under which these text came to be composed. And this is not an idle question or a question of secondary importance. For our evalution of the philosophy of the Āgamic texts will vitally depend on our evaluation of the conditions under which these texts came to be composed. The tradition says that the twelve Anga texts were composed by the direct disciples of Mahavira basing themselves on the teaching of the Master himself and the remaining Agamic texts were composed by the Jaina teachers belonging to a more or less recent period in the case of a number of these texts the actual names of the alleged authors being given out). Now even if it is conceded that each of the eleven Anga texts now available contains a nucleus that was the work of this or that direct disciple of Mabāvīra it will be too much to concede that the description applies to the entire content of this entire body of texts. As a matter of fact, in the case of the available Anga texts just as much as in the case of the non-Anga Agamic texts an independent investigation will have to be made in order to determine as to which part of the material lying before us is relatively old and which one relatively recent. But such an investigation requires that we have at our disposal fairly probable conjecture as to the evolution of Jaina doctrines related to the questions considered in the Āgamic texts. And this creates a real difficulty. For the danger is very great that a student constructs for himself something which to bim appears to be a fairly probable conjecture as to the evolution of Jaina doctrines but which in fact is far from being so. And this initial mistake will vitiate his whole subsequent endeavour-however diligent and however stupendous. Of course, the remedy for the situation is not in giving up the historical approach-for that will only go to aggravate the malady but in