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Shri Mahavir Jain Aradhana Kendra
www.kobatirth.orgAcharya Shri Kailashsagarsuri Gyanmandir
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Dighabhāņaka and the Majjhimabhānaka, of the books of the Khuddakanikāya, which, though different in some respects, agree in so far as they distinctly mention the Dhammapada among the books of the Lesser Collection. These two schools along with the Samyutta Arignttara and the Khuddakabhānalas point to a time earlier than the inscriptions at Bharhut which cannot be dated ealier than the 3rd century and later than the 2nd century B.C. The tradition that Appamādavagga was recited to king Asoka justifies the presumption that the Pāli Dhammapada existed in the 3rd century B.C. So much about the lower limit of the Päli Dhammapada.
As regards the lower limit of other copies and receusions, we have seen that the Chinese Fa-kheu-king, dated A.D. 223, presupposes three different Dhammapada selections in Sanskrit : one, its Indian original, with 500 verses, another text with 700 verses, and a third with 900 (p.ix). It has already been shown (pp. x-xi) that the Fa-khieu-king original in Sanskrit was a text different from the Pali as regards language and number of verses, though agreeing with it in its general form, name, number and succession of chapters, Again, the agreement of ihe Prakrit Dhammapada with the Pāli and the Fa-kbeu-șing original in respect of the number of verses and succession of chapters is by far closer than that of the Udāna varga (pp. viii-ix). But there are a number of verses in the Prakrit Dhammapada, notably the 'Uraga' verses at the end of the chapter on the Bhiksu and some in the Sahasa and Jara Vagas, which are to be found neither in the Pāli nor in the original of the Fa. kheu-king, but occur in the Udâpavarga in the chapters on Bhikṣu, Number and Impermanency. The Prakrit Dhamma. pada stands distinct from the rest in one respect, viz., that its first chapter is devoted to Mārga—the Buddhist Eightfold Patlı, combining into one group two separate chapters of the Pali as well as of the original of the l'a-kheu-king, riz., the Magga and the Pakinnaka (Miscellaneous). The first eight of
· Sum. Vil., 1. p. 15. • Mahavamaa, V. 68.
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