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Śramana, Vol 59, No. 2/April-June 2008
mainly stories preached by Lord Mahāvīra to his disciples. Its 19 chapters, referred to in Āvaśyaka-sutra, are undoubtedly composed in the early period. The next among Angacanons is Upāsakadaśānga, considered as the first work related to the code of conduct of lay devotees (Śrāvakas). It comprises life-sketches of ten prominent lay followers of Lord Mahāvīra. Not having any trace of any later work, it belongs to the early period. Antakyddaśäriga deals with the lifestories and ascetic life of the persons attaining their salvation in the last span of their life. According to Sthânānga, it has only ten chapters dealing with life-stories of 10 persons. But present volume contains life-stories of 93 persons. It clearly shows that not at the time of Valabhī Vācanā alone but even after that some additional matters were incorporated in Sthānānga. Same is the case with Anuttaraupapātikadaśārga. Its early edition contained life-stories of only ten persons who attained Sarvārthasiddhi Vimāna and were supposed to attain liberation in their next births. Of Jaina canon Praśnavyākaraṇadaśā, unfortunately, the earlier contents are totally extinct. It seems that the present subject matter of this work was incorporated in around c. 7th A.D. Its extant edition deals with five Samvaras, viz. truthfulness, non-violence, non-stealing, chastity and non-possession. Last available work of Anga canon is Vipākadasā, dealing with fruits of merit and demerits. Secondary Canons (Upānga)
The first work of the secondary cannons is Aupapātika. The next work of this category is Rājapraśniya, which so far its subject matter is concerned, is more similar to the Buddhist Pāli canon - Paseņiyasutta. Dealing with the episode of Sūryābhadeva, it also depicts a beautiful picture of ancient art and architecture. On the basis of this depiction, scholars date this work not earlier than c. 1s_ 2nd A.D. The third and the fourth, Jivābhigama and Prajñāpanā, respectively, deal with the Jaina metaphysics in general and the concepts of jiva and ajīvain particular. The authorship of Prajñāpanā
is attributed to Arya Syāma (c. 15 A.D.). Out of these twelve Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only
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