Jaina Philosophy

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

Page 38

RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL LITERATURE
Cūlikāsūtras :
The Nandi and the Anuyogadvāra are called Cūlikāsūtras. The word 'cūlikā' means 'appendix'. The two Cūlikāsūtras may be taken as appendices to the entire Jaina canon.
The Nandi contains a detailed exposition of five kinds of knowledge. In its beginning a list of senior preceptors (sthavirāvalī) is given.
The Anuyogadvāra deals with different types of topics -- metaphysical, grammatical, logical, mathematical etc. It is a small encyclopedia of Jaina subjects. Prakīrņakas :
The term 'prakirņaka' or 'prakirņa' means 'miscellany'. Generally the following ten miscellaneous canonical works are known as Prakīrņakas :
(1) Catuḥsarana, (2) Aturapratyākhyāna, (3) Bhaktaparijñā, (4) Samstāraka, (5) Tandulavaicārika, (6) Candravedhyaka, (7) Devendrastava, (8) Gaộividyā, (9) Mahāpratyākhyāna, (10) Vīrastava.
The Catuḥsaraṇa consists of 63 verses. It deals with the four-fold refuge, viz., the refuge of the arhats, that of the siddhas, that of the sādhus and that of the dharma.
The Aturapratyākhyāna deals with various types of death and the means leading to them. It consists of 70 verses.
The Bhaktaparijñā consists of 172 verses. It also describes different types of death.
The Samstāraka deals with the importance of the pallet of straw and praises those who resort to it. It contains 123 verses.
The Tandulavaicārika mostly consists of verses, their number being 139. It deals with topics like embryology, osseous structure etc.
The Candravedhyaka or Candrakavedhya consists of 175 verses. It explains how one should behave at the time of death.