Studies in the Bhagavati Sutra

Author(s): J C Sikdar
Publisher: Research Institute of Prakrit Jainology & Ahimsa Mujjaffarpur

Page 56

SECOND CHAPTER
Authorship and date of the Bhs. Examination of its internal and external evidences, such as, linguistic and literary as well as historical.
FIRST SECTION Authorship and date of the BhS:
As already discussed in the first section of the first chapter, the Bhs, stands as the fifth Anga in the list of the twelve Gani pitakas (Angas) which form the oldest part of the seven divisions of the Agamas as settled in the Vallabhi Council (Vallahhi-vācana).
In regard to their authorship and date, the Jain tradition says that after the demise of Lord Mahāvīra, Gautama Indrabhūti and Sudharman Swāmin became the heads of the Nirgrantha order in succession and continued the line without disturbance in the organization. It was Sudharman Swāmin who transmitted the sacred instructions of the Agamas to sambū Swāmin, as it is learnt from the fact of the mention of his name in the beginning of this canonical work as its author.1
The tradition as recorded in the Sthaviravali Carita' avers that some two centuries after the demise of the Master a terrible famine lasting for twelve years took place in Magadha at the time of Candragupta Maurya and consequently half the community accompanied by the king under the headship of Bhadrabāhu moved off near the sea in between 299-296 B.C., while the other portion remained in Magadha.
The Magadhan community under the presidency of Sthūlabhadra called a council of monks in Pataliputra early in the third century B. C. This council collected and fixed the canon of the Jaina sacred literature comprising eleven Angas
1 Bhs, See the beginning Gāthā of invocation. In regard to the succession the Svetāmbara tradition does not include
the name of Gautama Indrabhūti as the Pontiff. ? Sthavīrāvali Carita, Ninth Sarga 55, 59,