________________
Contribution of Sramanas to the Indian ..... : 77
From this conjecture of Prof. Kapadia about the evolution of the exegetical literature of the Jainas, it is evident that the most ancient and popular name given to the exegetical literature of the Jainas thus evolved is Nijjuttī. M. Winternitz, who calls Nijjuttīs as "concise metrical explanations”, seems to have supported Prof. Kapadia's views as regards the process of evolution of the exegetical literature of Jainas and the Nijjuttī type of the explanatory literature being the earliest in the following words, “It may be assumed as certain that, long before the final compilation of the canon under Devarddhi, the Jaina monks began to write explanations of the sacred texts. The earliest commentaries, the Nijjuttīs or Niryuktis, are in some instances very closely interwoven with the Sūtras, or they even supplanted the latter. The Pinda-Nijjuttī and the Ogha Nijjutī appear in the canon itself and the Ogha-Nijjuttī is even supposed to have been taken from one of the Pūrvas.S”. Out of the several meanings and definitions of the word Nijjuttī extant in the Jaina texts, the meaning of Silanka Sun occurring in his Nijjuttī on the Āyārāngasuttam seems to be most appropriate which is as follows - “The art of interpretation of the meaning with certainty is known as Niryukti.” Prof. Kapadia introduces the Nijjutti literature as. “For, the very first type of the Jaina explanatory works on the Āgama which form a part of our valuable legacy, is known as Nijjuttī in Prakrit and Niryukti in Sanskrit, and that its authorship is attributed to Bhadrabāhusvāmin, who died in Vīra Samvat 170. He has composed ten Nijjuttīs. But we do not know their specific names except those like Āvassayanijutti etc., coined by taking into account the work of which it is the Nijjuttī. Further, we do not know the exact dates of their composition. All the same, we may say almost with certainty that none of them is composed after Vīra Sarvat 170.". The Nījjuttīs, consist of very concise explanation in Āryā-verses and are Jaina-Maharastri. These are probably verses, which served
