Sacred Literature of Jains

Author(s): Ganeshchandra Lalwani, Satyaranjan Banerjee
Publisher: Jain Bhawan

Page 13

SACRED LITERATURE OF THE JAINS
"In full agreement as we find here that the actual contents have been ascribed to the Arhat, i. e. Tirthakara (cf. Āv., 2, 13), but the external form to the Gañadharas, so likewise in the Anuyogadvārasūtra we find that the āgama is divided into attā', aņaṁtarão and paramparā°, i. e (1) original doctrine, (2) doctrine that has been received immediately from its author and (3) traditional doctrine. The first category belongs to the Titthagaras (plur.) alone unconditionally; to their pupils, the Gaņadharas, it belongs only as far as the suttam (text) is concerned, while the Gañadharas, as regards the attha (contents) possess the aṇamtarão alone. The pupils of the Ganadharas possess, as regards the suttam, the anamtarā", as regards the attha, they have only the paramparā°. And after them only the latter (paramparā°) exists; there is no longer attā" or anamtarão. According to the commencement of the avacūri of the Oghanir yukti, (217) the activity of daśapūrvin was already limited to the composition of Saṁgrahaņis16 to the upangas etc.
We must however not omit to remark that for some texts of the Āgama distinct authors are named, part of whom, at least, are even considerably later than the daśapūrvin, Upānga 4 mentions as its author Ajja Sāma, characterizing him as “the 23rd” (ie. "saint" after Viral?) and as one who possesses wisdom ripened through listening to the puvvas, as being therefore in unison with the dițțhivāa. The name of Jiņabhadda (Āvašy. 14) belongs perhaps to a much later date. We have however, no information of an exact nature in reference either to him or to Virabhadra, who was probably author of painna 1. Sijjambhava, presumably author of the third mülasūtra and Bhadrababu, to whom chedasūtra 3-5 and other texts are ascribed, belong to the caturdaśapūrvin, but not to the immediate pupils of the Gañadharas, and consequently can lay claim to the paramparāgama alone. Nevertheless their works, as those just mentioned, are included in the existing agama. We must therefore accept the conclusion, that we have to deal in it with constituent parts which differ widely from each other.
· The text-constitution of the āgama appears, after all, on nearer view, to be of a very multifarious character. And this is vouchsafed also by tradition itself. The council of Pāšaliputra, which the account of Hemacandra [218] places in the immediate neighbourhood of the
16 daśapurvadhara apy upakārakā, upāngādi (dināṁ C) sangrahanyuparacanena
(nena het unā C). 17 “He (Kālikācārya) is the 23rd personage from Vira, including the 11 Ganadharas.
In the Siddhānta he is called Syamārya"-Bhau Daji in Jour, Bombay Br. R. As S. 9..150 (1867).