Scientific Vision of Lord Mahavira

Author(s): Chaitanyapragyashreeji
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati

Page 33

Bhagavati Sūtra: As an Encyclopedic Work
Mahāvīra. While other argas deal only with a particular theme, each in their own way the two argus-Sthānanga and the Bh.S contain hundreds of topics which are diverse in nature. Though Sthānanga also deals with a number of topics, it is not more than a mere collection of different ideas and theories on the basis of numerology; unlike the Bh.S which contains original and fundamental ideas without any manipulations or compiler's inference.
[1] The Bh.S and the Anga Literature
The Bh.S and the Acārānga
In the comparison of the Bh.S with the angas made by Dr. J. C. Sikdar only a few subjects are selected, 34 while many others are left out which are very important from the point of view of scientific study of the Bh.S e.g.; the doctrine of reincarnation and the memory of the past births.35 Again the classification of the six kinds of living beings is only brief in Acārānga but the Bh.S gives a detailed description of the characteristics of these living beings.36
The Bh.S and the Sūtrakstānga
Though Sūtrakstānga37 does describe the wretched life of infernal beings, the Bh.S furnishes a much larger description of these beings. The second chapter of the second part of Sütrakrtānga deals with kriyās (the instinctive actions responsible for the influx of karma) without their specifics. The Bh.S fills the gap by providing details that may be regarded as the complementary information on the subject concerned.
The Bh.S and Sthānanga
As far as the Sthānūngu Sūtra is concerned, there are hundreds of topics common between it and the Bh.S e.g., classification of pudgala (matter), 38 the duration of Yoni (the capacity to reproduce) of the food grains like rice, wheat etc., 39 the description of the Lokapala40 (a special category of gods), the five astikāyas (the extended substances),41 six lesyās (psychic colors),42 ten kinds of Lokasthiti43 (the universal order) etc.
The Bh.S and the Samavāyānga
Like the Sthānānga Sūtra, the Samavāyānga based on numerical classification of various topics has also many common subjects with the Bh.S. The Bh.S and the Jñātadharmakathā
Dr. Sikdar has compared the stories of Mahabala, Jamāli and others with those of Jñātadhurmkathā, but there is a world of difference in the stories given in the Jñata and the true life-events described in the Bh.S.44 Whereas