________________ Pancastikaya-samgraha Aparajita, Govardhana, and Bhadrabahu. (see "Tiloyapannati', verses 1494-95; also 'Harivansapurana', p. 806-807.) It is generally accepted by the Digambara sect of Jainas that the comprehensive knowledge contained in the 'agama' - anga and purva - was lost gradually in the course of six hundred eighty-three years following the nirvana of Lord Mahavira as it was transmitted orally from one generation of acaryas to the next. Some learned and spiritually advanced acaryas then started to restore, compile and put into written words the teachings of Lord Mahavira, that were the subject matter of dvadasanga. Acarya Dharasena guided two acaryas, Acarya Puspadanta and Acarya Bhutabali, to put these profound tenets in the written form. The two acaryas wrote, on palm leaves, Satkhandagama - among the oldest known Digambara Jaina texts. Around the same time, Acarya Gunadhara wrote Kasayapahuda. These two texts, being highly technical in nature, could not become popular with the general readers. The rise of Acarya Kundakunda Around the same time, Acarya Kundakunda rose as the bright sun and composed some of the finest Jaina Scriptures which continue to exert, even today, great influence on the thinkers and the practitioners - the ascetics and the laymen. For the last two millenniums these texts have been true guides for the 'bhavya'- potential - souls who find worldly existence as full of suffering and aspire to tread the path that leads to Omniscient and the srutakevali, know the nature of the Reality. The difference is that while the Omniscient experiences the Reality through the soul that has allpervasive and infinite strength of knowledge and perception, the srutakevali experiences the Reality through the soul that has limited strength of knowledge and perception. The Omniscient sees the Reality through his infinite knowledge (kevalajnana); it is like seeing objects during the daytime in the light of the sun. The srutakevali sees the Reality through his knowledge of the Scripture; it is like seeing objects during the night in the light of the lamp. Both know the nature of the Reality The worthy ascetics, adept in the entire Scripture (agama) and renowned as srutakevali, are endowed with the special accomplishment (rddhi) - called the chaudahapurvi, a kind of buddhirddhi. (see "Tiloyapannati', verse 1010).
