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Shri Mahavir Jain Aradhana Kendra
www.kobatirth.org
24
Acharya Shri Kailassagarsuri Gyanmandir
Kalpasútra.
The later scholiasts have converted this gâthâ into a metrical table of contents (adhikâratrayam) by altering the last hemistich. purima-carimâņa kappo
mamgalam Vaddhamâna-titthammi | to parikahiya Jina-ganaharâi-therâvali-carittam ||
"The religious practice of the first and the last (Jinas) is auspicious during the tirtha of Vardhamâna. Hence the Jina (caritra), the list of the Theras beginning with the Ganadharas, and the caritra, i. e. paryshanâsâmâcârîs, have been told".
Two
The Jinacaritra, the Sthavirâvali, and the Sâmâcârîs, united in one book under the title of Kalpasûtra, were, according to the tradition, included in Devarddhiganin's recension of the Jaina scriptures, though it is not contained in the Siddhanta. arguments speak for the correctness of the tradition: firstly the date of that event is incorporated in the Kalpasútra; secondly the whole of the Kalpasútra is divided into "centuries" of one hundred granthas (32 aksharas) each, a measure adopted, probably, by the editor in order to guard the text against additions. These centuries
are marked in the text as ग्रं १००, मं २०० etc., and are to
be found in all MSS. at the identical places. The Kalpasûtra is said to contain 1216 granthas, e. g. in the following verse taken from the colophon of MS. A.
ekaḥ sahaçro (1) dviçatî-sametaḥ çlishtas tataḥ shoḍaçabhir vidantu | Kalpasya samkhyâ kathitâ viçishtâ viçâradaiḥ paryushanâbhidhasya ||
In the present day it is commonly known as the "Bâr sem sûtra" i. e. the sutra of twelve hundreds.
Our present text contains, according to my calculation, more than 100 granthas above the fixed number, and the extent of the several centuries varies between 100 and 135 granthas. It is rather tempting to reduce the text to its original extent by rejecting suspicious passages. But I have refrained from doing so, because the loose style of the Kalpasûtra with its many repetitions which are peculiar to the Sûtra style, render it impossible to point out exactly those passages which are spurious.
Formerly, it is said, the whole Kalpasûtra was read on the first night of the Pajjusan. But since it was read in the sabhâ of Dhruvasena, king of Anandapura, to console him after the death of his beloved son Senâñgaja,) the Kalpasûtra was explained in nine vâcanâs. These nine vâcanâs or vyâkhyânas are marked in some MSS. and in some commentaries. But as there is no agree
1) There is no agreement about the date of this event; some place it in 980 A.V., others in 993, and others again in 1080, see notes to § 148.
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