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Shri Mahavir Jain Aradhana Kendra
www.kobatirth.org
Acharya Shri Kailassagarsuri Gyanmandir
FOREWORD
ORIGIN OF THE PANCARĀTRA.
It cannot be asserted very definitely from the materials available as to when this school of thought originated, but to a certain extent it may be said to have a very ancient history. The Pāñcarātra is traditionally believed to have been first taught by Nārāyaṇa--the supreme deity--to the sage Narada, who, in his turn, handed it over to the Rsis. While the Mahābhārata 1 calls the Šāstra as the Pañcarātra, the Îśvarasamhitā 2 designates it as the Sāttvata Sāstra though the information the two works give relates to the same topic of Nārāyaṇa being the originator of the Sāstra. The traditional works 3 of the Pāñcarātra School further assert that the literature originated with the Vedas and that its source is the Ekāyanaśākhā 4 affiliated to one of the Vedas. The word Ekāyana, however, appears for the first time in the Chāndogya Upani.
1. इदं महोपनिषदं चतुर्वेदसमन्वितम् ।
साजथयोगकृतं तेन पञ्चरात्रानुशब्दितम् ।। नारायणमुखोद्गीतं नारदोऽश्रावयत्पुनः ।
महाभारते-शान्तिपर्वणि मोक्षधर्मे. अ. ३४८. 51. 62-63. 2. एतेषां सात्त्वतं शास्त्रमुपदेष्टुं त्वमर्हसि । इत्युक्त्वाऽन्तर्दधे श्रीमानारायणमुनिस्तदा ॥
ईश्वरसंहिता I, I0. 3. वेदमेकायनं नाम वेदानां शिरसि स्थितम् ।
तदर्थकं पाञ्चरात्रं मोक्षदं तक्रियावताम् ॥ also
श्रीप्रश्नसंहिता. एष एकायनो वेदः प्रख्यातः सर्वतो भुवि ।
ईश्वरसंहिता I, 43. 4. It is noteworthy that Ekāyanaśāk kā has been indentified with the Kāņva Śābbā of the Suklayajurveda by Nāgesa--a recent author-in his work entitled Kanvasākhāinabimāsangraha, a Ms, copy of which is described in the Madras Government Oriental Library Triennial Catalogue III. 1. B on p. 3299.
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