Sacred Literature of Jains

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

Page 75

SACRED LITERATURE OF THE JAINS
The fact that this introductio solennis is found in all six angas, alike, is proof enough of its late origin and of its being the work of a hand which brought all six into close conjunction. If this be so, it is possible to conceive that the explanation of the name ndyadhammakahāu which occurs in anga 6 (näyāni ya (308) dhammakahão ya) is not in harmony with its original signification. I prefer the foll. explanation : first separate the word into ņāyādhamma and kahāu and understand by nāyādhamma the "dharma of the Jñata" i e. of Mahăvira 270* (see above, p. 261, on anga 2, 1, 1, 6), and understand the meaning to be "Recitals for the dharma of the Jñata.”
But we must not suppress an objection. In the anga section in anga 4 and Nandi, both parts of anga 6 are especially recognized, and in fact by the same titles: nāyāi, and dhammakahāu. This misunderstanding, if such here exist, must have been anterior to the date of anga 4 and N. I cannot however regard this as a cogent objection, since the Nandi is the work, according to all probability, of Devarddhigaại himself (980 Vira), and the section of anga 4 is perhaps, in the last instance, the production of a still later period (cf. above, p. 284.) 271
The statements in reference to the extent of the second part of anga 6 contained in anga 4 and identical with those of the Nandi, are full of the most fabulous exaggerations, cf. p. 286, 289. Each of the dhammakahās is said to contain 500 akkhāiyās, each of these 500 uvakkhäiyās; each uv. 500 akkhaiya-uvakkhāiyās with a total of "3} koti", i.e. 35 millions of akkhāiäs. This latter sum excites tbe hostility of surprise since, if we reckon each (309] of the ten vaggas of the second part as a dhammakahi, the result for all 10 is if we trust the above quoted statements, 125 koțis, namely 10 x 5003, i.e. 1250 millions ! According to the Schol, on the Nandi this riddle is solved by the assumption that of the 125 koțis, only 31 koți are "apunarukta", and the remaining 1214 koțis have occurred in the nine ajjh. 11-19 of part 1, each of which in turn contains 540 akkh. having each 500 uvakkh, and these 500 akkh, uvakkh each.
270* The length of the a of nāya (cf. Pān. 6, 3, 129, 130) is irregular according to both
explanations.-See however the first note on this anga. It certainly militates against the plausibility of the above conjecture, that the recitals of the first part are cited in the references of the redactor under the designation of nāya (jaha
aidanāe, jaha Mallināe)-L. 271 There is no reason whatever to suppose a misunderstanding in the above passages
only to please an etymology of the 19th century ; even in this very anga 6 the term nāya is applied to the first and twelfth ajjh, as will be seen from their titles given jater on. Remember also the term nāyajjhayaņāim spoken of above on anga 419.