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fication of 9 Angas historically preceeded to that of 12 Angas, which were succeeded by that of 3 Pitakas. And from the existent evidences, the mention of 3 Piṭakas can be traced back to the 1st century B.C., and the mention of 2 Piṭakas (i.e., Vinaya and Sutra) can be traced back to the 2nd century B.C.11 Since 12 Anga-gaṇipiṭakas must have been authorized when the Buddhist classification of 3 Pitakas came to be well established, 12 Angas of the Jainas could not have existed before the 1st century B.C.
Secondly, a mention of 12 Angas is made in the texts belonging to the later canonical age (for instance, Sutrakṛta II, Sthāna, Samavaya, Bhagavati XVI.6, XX.8, Upāsaka, Aupapātika, Nandi, Anuyoga and Kalpa), inasmuch as 11 Angas and 14 Purvas make their appearance in the texts belonging to the later canonical age (for instance, 11 Angas in the Bhagavati II.1, IX.33, XVI.5, XX 8. Jñātādharma, Antakṛt, Anuttara, and Vipāka: 14 Purvas in Bhagavati XI.11, XVIII.2, Jñatadharma and Antakṛt and Purvadhara in Bhagavati V.4 Jñātādharma, Antakṛt Praśna, Anuttara, Vipāka, Nandi and Kalpa). The Dṛṣṭivada is independently referred to in the list of the Vyavahāra X, however this list is known to belong to the later canonical stage.
Finally, there is no mention of any list of 12 Angas other than the present one in the canonical texts as well as in the Svetämbara and Digambara traditions. This means that the Jaina church authorized 12 Angas that are enumerated in the present list and named them 12 Angaganipiṭakas. Out of 11 existent Angas, the Praśnavyakaraṇa obviously replaced the original text which must have been lost. The concepts and the contents occurring in the Sthnaa, Samavaya and Bhagavati belong to all the stages in the Agamic period. Except these three texts and excluding the Acara 1 and the Sutrakṛta I which belong to the earliest canonical stage, all the rest of the present existent Anga texts belong to the later canonical stages. And the contents of the Dṛṣṭivada reveal the important topics in the system of jiva-ajiva discussed at the later canonical stages.
All these testify that 12 Angas must have been authorized in the considerably later canonical period, but surely before the time of Umasväti. And the church authorities named them 12 Anga-ganipiṭakas by attributing the compilership of 11 existent Angas to Mahavira's 11 Gaṇadharas. But why didn't they select 12 existent texts and name
11
E. Maeda : Ibid., Japanese text, pp. 614-616.
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