Vaishali Institute Research Bulletin 1

Author(s): Nathmal Tatia
Publisher: Research Institute of Prakrit Jainology & Ahimsa Mujjaffarpur

Page 191

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VAISHALI INSTITUTE RESEARCH BULLETIN NO. I
(a) karmaṇā manovākkāyakriyālakṣaṇena satya avisamvadinaḥ karmasatyaḥ, that is, 'persons who are true by their mental, vocal and physical acts'.
(b) karmasu arthan manușyagatiyogyakriyārūpeşu sakta abhişvangavantaḥ karmasaktāḥ, that is, 'persons who are engaged in acts that lead to human life'.
None of these two interpretations however directly follows from the word kammasacca. Nor do they appear plausible in view of the obvious intention of the author, in this context, to give a general maxim of the doctrine of karman in its aspect of a moral force determining the good or bad effects of an action. The word kammasacca here is most probably a careless scribe's substitute for kammassaka, derived from the Sanskrit expression karmasvaka meaning "possessed of the property (heritage) of the karmans”. In support of our guess, we quote
he following from the Majjhimanikāya, part III, p. 280 (Nava Mahāvihāra Edition):
“kannmassakā, māpava, satta kammadayadā kammayoni kammabandhū kammappațisarapā, kammam satte vibhajati yadidam hînappapitatāyā" ti.
This Pali passage lucidly sets forth the view that the karman is the property (sva), inheritance (daya), creative base (yoni), friend (bandhu) and shelter (pratiśarana) of living beings. It is again the karman that divides beings as of low and high status.
The Prakrit expression kammasacca is obviously connected with the Pali word kammassaka in the above passage, which is derived from Sanskrit karmasvaka. The Pali expression kammabandhu reminds one of the popular verse of the Man usmộti (VIII. 17):
eka eva suhệd dharmo nidhane 'py anuyāti yaḥ/ sarirena samam nāśam sarvam anyad hi gacchati//
The meaning of many a technical term in the Prakrit language can similarly be determinəd with reference to the Pali language. Thus the meaning of the Prakrit word parisaha of the Uttar a dhyaynna. Adhyayana II, could be related to the Pali word parissaya of the Sariputtasutta of the Sultanipata, the word dhuya of the Acāranga Sutra, Śrutaskandha I, Adhyayana VI, to the dhuta of the Vinaya Pitaka (Mahāvagga, p. 43, and Parivāra, p. 338). The study of Prakrit will remain incomplete without the study of Pali, each being considered as essentially complementary to the other. In fact, Prakrit and Pali are languages that embody the thought and culture which originated and developed pari passu in respect of both time and place.