Jainism Some Essays

Author(s): A S Gopani
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

Page 99

92
]
Jainism
Here we find the use of 'Arahanta Bhagavanta' (126) and Jina (5.5) which shows that there were many such persons who were called Arihanta or Jina and Lord Mabāvira was one of them.
The epithet Arahā' was also used for the Buddha and the use of this term was not absent in the Vedic literature. But when this word was used frequently for their leaders by the śramaņas the word was dropped by the Vedic writers.
Like Māhana the term "Veyavi' was also in vogue in ancient days for the learned and so it is used in such sense in the Ācāranga (139). Such is also the case with the terms Aria (146, 207, 187) Mahesi' (160) and Medhavi (191). The term "Jina' though used (162) in Acara nga part I it is surprising that it is not used with reference to Lord Mahāvira.
Satthā (118), though used only once for Mahāvira, is frequently used for Buddha.
To conclude, we can say that here the terms Muni, Mabaņa, Nayaputta, Vira, Mahāvira and Bhagavān were main epithets for Lord Mahavira. But we must bear in mind that here also the epithet Tirthankara is not used.
In Pāli Pitaka, as we have seen, Lord Mahāvirs is referred to again and again by tha terms Savvañ ñū and Savvada ssi, but in Acārānga we do not come across such terms ; instead, we find the terms such as afraiddAUT (9, 1.11), 91492, infaqeat (93), 978990 (1:0), afats (3. 2. 9), ThaiFTOTETTO (1:5). Anelisaņāņi (9. 1. 116). Some of these terms may convey the meaning of omniscience, but it is significant that the proper term Savvappu is not used. We will see that this term is frequent in later Jaina literature. So we may not be wrong if we conclude that this term is introduced in the period later than the time of the Acāranga part I and this will show that the Acārāiga part I is earlier than the portions of Pāli-Pitakas in which this term occurs.
Sūtrak prāngo, Part I
In Sutraksiānga part I we see further development. Here we can have the common epithets like Samana and Mahaņa, but many more are added, and some of the early epithets have become names in this part of the Sūtrakpranga. In Ācāranga Vira and Mahavira were simple epithets but in SūtrakȚrānga they have become the names (1. 1. 1; 1. 1. 27; 14. 2. 22; 1. 9. 24; 1. 14. 11.). For the first time Mahāvira is given an epithet of Niggantha' (1. 14. 11 ) which appears in Pali-Pitakas as Nigantha, Nātaputta. Nāya, Nāyaputte and Nāyasuye are also used in Sūtrakriāåga (1. 1. 27; 2. 3. 32;