Jaina Philosophy

Author(s): Mohanlal Mehta
Publisher: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

Page 33

JAINA PHILOSOPHY : AN INTRODUCTION
last five give an account of Samvara (stoppage of the influx). The available contents of this work are different from those noted in the Samavāyanga and the Nandisūtra
The Vipākaśruta is divided into two sections, each having ten narratives. The first section deals with the fruits of bad deeds, whereas the second describes those of good deeds.
Both the Jaina traditions, viz., the Svetāmbara and the Digambara, unanimously hold that the Drștivāda forms the twelfth, i. e., the last Anga of the Jaina canon. According to the Nandi-sútra, the Acārānga constitutes the first Anga and the Drștivāda the twelfth. The Dhavalā also up- holds the same view. The Drștivāda consists of five sections: Parikarma, Sūtra, Anuyoga or Prathamānuyoga, Purvagata and Cūlikā. The Pūrvagata section occupies a distinctive place in the Jaina canon. One who possesses knowledge of this section comprising fourteen Pūrvas is known as śruta-kevalin (possessor of knowledge of all the scriptures). The Drștivāda or the Pūrvagata as such is not extant now. There are some treatises in both the Jaina traditions that were composed on the basis of certain Pūrvas. Since the Dșstivāda contained most difficult philosophical discussions, and hence, its study was recommended for an ascetic of nineteen years' standing who has studied the Acārānga etc., it is not surprising if it gradually vanished. It was not an easy job to find suitable monks for imparting knowledge of this difficult text.
The treatises composed on the basis of the Pūrvagata section of the Dșstivāda are of two categories : canonical and non-canonical or karmic and non-karmic. The canonical or non-karmic trcatises include the Nisitha, the Daśāśruta skandha, the Bșhatkalpa and the Vyavahāra chedasútras, the Dasavaikālika mülasira and the Parīşaha chapter of the Uttarādhyayana mülasülm. The non-canonical or karmic works comprise the Karmaprābhịta, the Kaşayaprābhịta, the Karmaprakrti, the Satit it, the Saptatikā and the Panca