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144
The Unknown Pilgrims
- The Kalpa-sutra is not as such included in the list of the Āgamas. 26 However, because it contains the life of Mahāvira and of other tirtharkaras, it is one of the most venerated, read, commentated and illustrated sūtras of all for the Svetämbaras. We must take note here of the special structure of the Kalpa-sūtra. It is composed of three unconnected parts:
Jina-cantra, a detailed account of the life of Mahāvira, followed by brief descriptions of the lives of Pārsva, Aristanemi and Rsabha, each modelled on that of Mahävira.
Sthaviravali, a list of the Elders, from Indrabhūti to Devardhi Kșamāśramaņa.27
Sāmācāri, rules to be observed by the ascetics during the monsoon.
This last part is also Chapter VIII of the Daśāśrutaskandha of the Cheda-sūtras and is without doubt the most ancient part of the Kalpa-sútra. It seems quite probable that the two other parts were added at the time of the last Council.28
In every age frequent and lengthy commentaries on the Agamas have been written by learned ācāryas. Until about the VIIIth century these commentaries were composed in verse in a Prākrit dialect called Māhārāstri, the most ancient being called nisyuktis and their successors bhāşyas. Next come the cūrnis, in which a transition is observable, for they are written in a prose in which there is a mixture of Prākrit and Sanskrit. Finally, the tikās and vịttis are in Sanskrit. These commentaries such as the bhāsyas and cūrņis often stray far from the text, but are nevertheless very interesting documents, from the literary and socio-religious points of view of the epoch when they
26 In its present form, only the last part is included, as a section inserted in the Daśāśrutaskandha.
27 Part of this list is also found in certain inscriptions at Mathurā.
28 C. Winternitz, 1977, pp. 462-464.
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