A History of the Canonical Literature of the Jainas c7.61

c7.61

Before concluding this chapter, I think it necessary to point out the pitfall to which some are likely to succumb, in case they confound this codification of the *Jaina śāstras* with that of their composition by identifying these two different events. It will be a sheer folly, therefore, to believe that the dates of the compositions of the various *śāstras* codified at Valabhi are none else but the date of their codification. This folly, if committed, will not only amount to accepting at best *terminus ad quem* as the date of the *śāstras* but taking it to be the same as *terminus a quo*. In short, the dates of the composition of the various *śāstras* codified are much earlier than the date of their codification though it is true that the dates of the new portions that may have been then incorporated in the *śāstras* are the same as that of the codification.