A History of the Canonical Literature of the Jainas c5.13

c5.13

Lord Mahāvīra had eleven *Gaṇadharas* Indrabhūti and others³ and each of them composed a *dvādaśāṅgī*. To enter into details, Indrabhūti after he had taken *dīkṣā*, bowed to Lord Mahāvīra and asked: "किं तत्" (what is the essence underlying the animate and inanimate objects)? The Lord replied: "उप्पन्नेइ वा" (everything has a creation). Thereupon, once more, Indrabhūti asked the same question; for, he could not believe that there was nothing else but creation, when, with his own eyes he could see destruction and permanence as well. The Lord replied: "विगमेइ वा" (everything perishes). This again led him to put the same question once more. This time the Lord replied: "धुवेइ वा" (everything is permanent). This final answer solved his doubts, and he could catch the real spirit of Jainism.⁴ For, all this while the answers had set him thinking, and as if by way of sudden realization, the ideas had rushed past in his mind in the following vein:—