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A Note on the Word Pratyekabuddha in Jainism
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conception, I give below some references Umāsvāti in his Tattvārthabhāsya 10.7. says : “asti svayambuddhah. sa dvividhah arhaṁśca Tirthankarah, pratyekabuddhasiddhaśca”. It follows from that both the Tīrthankara and the Pratyekabuddha do not require any preaching from others. The other two types of the Buddhas are "Buddhabodhita" i. e. those who require the preachings from the Buddha and for them Umāsvati says that they are also of two types parabodhakasiddhāh and Svestākārīsiddhāh i. e. those who preach and those who are only interested in their own good so that they do not preach. This contention of Umāsvati is also accepted by Pujyapāda in his Sarvarthasiddhi, the commentary on Tattvārtha 10.9., as well as by Akalanka in his Rājavārtika-10.9.
Uttarajjhayanāim uses the word buddha to mean the "wise precepter" as well as for the "Tirthankara Mahāvīra” and also for Kesi and Goyama, Utta 8, 17 etc. 327, 574, 582, 984, 1432; 839, 843.
In the Avassayasutta the word buddha is used for the "Siddha” 53.
The word Patteyabuddha (Pratyekabuddha) is not found in early Jaina canonical works like Ācāranga Sūyagada, Uttarajjhayanāim and Dasaveyaliya-sutta but it is found in the late stratum of Bhagavaī, (25.320) Sthānanga 219, and in the appendix to Samavāya (p. 921) where the information about Paṇhāvāgarana is given. It is strange that though the commentary on Utta. ch. 9, Namipavvajjā depicts Nami and other Pratyekabuddhas, the text is silent about Nami's identification as Pratyekabuddha (see Utta. Niryukti. 264-270 and its Com. by Sāntyācārya, pp. 299-305). Under these circumstances we may say that the idea of Pratyekabuddha was originally conceived by the Buddhists and then it was adopted by the Jainas.
In Utta. Com. It is clear though Pratyekabuddha is not having any teacher but has some cause (nimitta) to ponder over the worthlessness of the saṁsāra and as a result he remembers his previous birth and renounces the worldly life and becomes a monk and finally is liberated from this world.
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