Descriptive Catalogue of Govt Collections of Manuscripts Part 3

Author(s): Hiralal R Kapadia
Publisher: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute

Page 413

376
Jaina Literature and Philosophy
1002.
They are as under :
1) Out of the 10 niryuktis, Avaśyakasūtraniryukti is composed first.
2) It is more exhaustive than the rest, and that its Upodghataniryukti is recommended not only for the study of the remaining five adhyayanas of Avaśyakasutra but even while studying the nityukti of other works.
3) Some of its gathas occur in some of the agamas. For instance 11⁄2 gathās are in Anuyogadvārasūtra, and some gathās in Sthānanga and Nandisütra, too. 4) The discussion about avadhijñāna given in the Nandisutra reminds one of a corresponding topic dealt with in the Avaśyakasūtraniryukti.
5) It is the Avaśyakasūtraniryukti on which we have a number of commentaries, such as múlabhāṣya, the Viseṣā vaśyakabhāṣya, cūrṇī and various other commentaries.'
6) Avaśyakasūtra and its Upodghätaniryukti are unique in the sense that a separate treatise viz. Anuyogadvara is composed for explaining them.
7) There is a discussion as to why there are two mangalas in the Avaśyakasūtraniryukti, one by way of the gātha beginning with आभिनिबोहियनाणं and one by way of the gāthā commencing with तित्थयरे भगवंते (Upodghataniryukti).
A. M. Ghatage has made certain observations regarding the Niryuktis. He places the Avaśyakasūtraniryukti along with the Daśavaikalikaniryukti in the second group out of
the three 2 in which he divides the collection of Niryukti I Cf. what is given on p. 15 of Ubersicht über die Avaśyaka-Literatur. 2 The first and the third groups are as under :
The niryuktis on the first two angas come under the first group which contains "Niryuktis the text of which is preserved to us in a form which we can reasonably take to represent their original one free from later additions" (p. 270). "Ir the third group come the Niryuktis which are now called by the names of the Bhāṣyas and Bṛhad-Bhāṣyas like those on Nisitha and others where it is not now possible to separate the original Niryukti and the latter commentary ou it." (PP 270-71).