Studies in the Bhagavati Sutra

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

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STUDIES IN THE BHAGAWATI SŪTRA
[Ch. Ii
ground of its internal historical evidences that with the exception of the portions incorporated later on, the parts of the records of the pilgrimage of king Seņiya-Bimbisāra and queen Cellanā? to Lord Mahāvira, king Kūnika, two wars, viz. Mahasila. kantaku Sangrāma’ and Rathamusala Sangrāma", fought between the Magadhan king and the Vaišalian confederation of nine Mallakiss, nine Licchavis, Kāść, Košala and their eighteen Ganarājas (republican chiefs) led by the president-king Ceța ka, king Udayana of Kausāmbz'. king Udāyana of Sindhu-Sauvīra and Mahāsena" (of Avantā ?) were definitely finished as early as by this time, i. e. the 6th century B. C.
Mahāvīra refers to the existence of the followers of Lord Pārsvunātha's order, Munisuvrataand Dharmaghosa, the disciple's disciple of Vimala, the thirteenth Tīrthankara whose religious activities were known and remembered by him. But there is nothing to show from the historical events, time, place, etc, as recorded in the BhS except the specific statements that the date of this canonical work can be pushed back to a period before the sixth century B. C.
Further, the record of the corpus of the Brāhmaṇical literature in the Bhs such as, the four Vedas, Itihāsa, etc., prescribed as the courses of study shows the delimitation of the date of its origin along with the other canonical texts.
It is also recorded in the Kalpa Sutrało that even Lord Mahāvīra was taught these prescribed courses of study in his boyhood, but not the twelve Angus, etc. of the Nirgrantha order.
The use of the title Anga' to signify the oldest works of the canon suggests the same period of the BLS along with the other Angas as that of the Vedic Angas and Upāngas as evidenced in this canonical text.
1 BhS, 1, 1, 4. 16, 7, 9, 300. 4 10, 12, 2, 441. 6 Vide infra Ch. VII, Sec, 8. 8 10, 11, 11, 431. 10 Kalpa Sätra 1st lecture, S.B.E., p. 221,
816, 7, 9, 301.
11, 13, 6, 491. 7 Bhs, 18, 2, 618. • Ib, 2, 1, 90.