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śramaņa, Vol 59, No. 2/April-June 2008
of "Uvamă was placed in Jñātādharmakathā and 'Samkhā' being related with numbers was included in Sthânănga and Samavāyānga. Komalapasiņāim is also not mentioned there. The aforesaid three names are replaced by three new names i.e. 'Asi' 'Maņi' and Aditya. Samavāyānga account clearly shows that the subject matter of Praśnavyākarana was full of the various kinds of occult sciences. There it has been asserted that after getting extinct the three chapters viz., Isibhāsiyāim, Āyariyabhāsiyāim and Mahāvīrbhāsiyāim the description of occult sciences is given.
In fact, the description of Samavāyānga' indicates the existence of any other revised edition of Praśnavyākaraṇa in which after the adding an elaborate description of occult sciences, portions of Pratyekabuddhabhāsita (Rșibhāṣita), Ācāryabhāșita and Virabhāșita (Mahāvīrabhāșita) were separated and it had become purely a text of occult sciences. To make it more authentic it was told that it contains the wordings sayings of Pratyekabuddhas, Ācāryas and Mahāvīra.
The description about subject matter of Praśnavyākarana available in Tattvärthavārtika informs only this much that the author had no copy of Praśnavyākaraṇa before him. The description given by him is totally imaginary. The stray references about occult sciences available in Dhavalā indicate that the author would have received it from the Śvetāmbara or Yāpaniya tradition. It also raises question mark about the existence of any such edition of Dhavalä.
I personally feel that the portion pertaining to occult sciences was added first in Praśnavyākarana and then the portion of Rşibhāșita was separated. Between the period of inclusion and exclusion, the same subject matter was retained parallel. The reference about ten chapters of Praśnavyākarana found in Sthānânga, forty-five uddeśanakālas in Samavāyānga and forty-five adhyayanas in Nandi-sūtra are not merely by chance but it shows the resemblance of Rşibhāșita and Praśnavyākarana. There has been a valid reason behind ten chapters of present Praśnavyākarana. Definitely it would have been done to
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