Book Title: Rushibhashit Sutra
Author(s): Vinaysagar, Sagarmal Jain, Kalanath Shastri, Dineshchandra Sharma
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy
View full book text
________________
This chapter classifies five types of Utkat: Dandotkat, Rajjootkat, Stenotkat, Deshotkat and Sarvotkat. In this context, first of all the meaning of the word utkat should be understood. Although the word utkat has a variety of meanings, it would be best here to take the meaning as agitated or confused. One of the meanings of utkat is intoxication also. Infact the materialistic life style was opposed to the spiritual life style and as such it was called utkat. This is also possible that the spiritualists gave the name 'agitated' (utkat) to the believers of materialism. The materialists consumed wines etc. and did not consider that to be wrong, that may also be one of the reasons. Another possibility is that the original Prakrit word ukkal may be the utkul of Sanskrit; which means a degraded or despicable family. If we take it as utkool it means that which flows beyond bank or breaking the banks, this indicates that those people who propagated ideas opposing to the spiritual thinking were called utkool.
In this translation the use of the form utkal does not appear to be appropriate to me, it should have been utkat, utkul, or utkool. The five types of utkal refered to in this chapter are in fact the view points that used to propagate the materialistic doctrines through typical examples. Dandotkat are those who use dand (staff) as an example and propagate that as the begining, middle, and end parts of a staff can not remain in separate existence, it is a united whole, there is no entity of soul separate from body.
Rajjootkat are those who use Rajju (fibre) as an example and propagate that as a rope is a conflagration of many different fibres, a living being too is a conflagration of five fundamentals and disintegrates with the disintegration of these constituents.
Stenotkat are those who re-interpret the examples of other 'scriptures and confirm their own beliefs. They are intolerant of other doctrines and continue to deny them by misinterpretation. May be, at some later period, Anekantvad (non-absolutism) developed in the Nirgranth (Jain) tradition as an opposition to this Stenotkatvad. This is because those who maintain that their statement is the only truth are said to be the antithesis of compassion towards others.
Rishibhashit : A Study
181
