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Shri Mahavir Jain Aradhana Kendra
www.kobatirth.orgAcharya Shri Kailashsagarsuri Gyanmandir
(
aliji
)
work of the Vaibhāşikas at the Comucil held under the presi. dency of Vasumitra during the reign of Kaniska.' He says, “It would not be surprising if we found that the edition of Dhammapada prepared by Dhirmatrāta, belonged to the Vaibhāshika school, whilst that known in Ceylon was compiled by the Sautrântikas."
Beal is the first to suggest that the terms Sautrântika and Vaibhāșika represent two distinct stages of a Buddhist canon, but his mistake lies in identifying the Sautrāntika with the Sthaviravala. The name Sautrāntika in its generic sense was derived evidently from that of the Suttavāda school or sect which was the sixth in descent from the Theravada through a schismatic line: Theravāda > Mahimsãɛaka > Sabbatthivada > Dhammagattika > Kassapiya > Samkantika > Sutta-vāda.? Even if the term Suttavada or Sautrāntika be taken as a generic name for the Mahisäsaka or the Sarvåstivāda canon in its final redaction or stage of development, it must always be kept carefully distinct from the Sthaviravāda on account of its schismatic associations. The contents and arrangement of a Sautrāntika work might eventually be found almost identical with those of a Sthaviravida, and yet, if we are to respect at all the tradition in the Dipavasa, there must remain a sharp distinction between the two works with regard to their languages. If in the case of a book of the Sthaviravāda canon we find that its language is what we now know as Pāli, then we must expect that the language of a corresponding Sautrāntika work will be something other than Pāli, say, Mixed Sanskrit. Granted this, we have got to answer wbich copy of the Dhammapada is technically a Sautrântika work and which a Vaibhāşika.
Beal seems to think that the Fa-khou-king original with 500 verses was received into tbe Vaibhåsika canon during the reign of Kanişka and that it was compiled by Arya Dharmatrāta, the
"Boal's 'Dhammapada', p. 8.
Mahsyatisa, Chap, V. 9.6-0. Buttavada - Vasumitra': Santråntika. • Dipavarosa, Chap. V. v. 32 ., quoted in the Kathavatthu.Comy., pot
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