A History of Indian Literature v2.c20.s2.19

v2.c20.s2.19

Thus we see that, according to the tradition of the Śvetāmbara Jainas themselves, the authority of their sacred texts does not go beyond the 5th century A.D. It is true that they assume that the texts which were written down at the Council of Vallabhī, are based on those old texts that had been compiled at the Council of Pāṭaliputra, and which can be traced back to Mahāvīra and his disciples. The Gaṇadharas or heads of schools, who were still pupils of Mahāvīra, especially Ajja Suhamma (Ārya Sudharman), are said to have compiled the Master’s words in the Aṅgas and Upāṅgas. Certain individual texts are, however, ascribed to later authors even by tradition, for instance the fourth Upāṅga is ascribed to Ajja Sāma (Ārya Śyāma), who is said to have lived 376 or 386 years after Mahāvīra’s death,¹ the fourth Cheda-Sūtra, the Piṃḍanijjutti and the Ohanijjutti to Bhadrabāhu (2nd century after Mahāvīra’s death), the third Mūla-Sūtra to Sejjaṃbhava (Sayyambhava), who counts as the fourth head of the school after Mahāvīra,² and the Nandī, which is actually attributed to so late a writer as Devarddhi, the president of the Council of Vallabhī, in the 10th century after the death of Mahāvīra.³ Even the Digambaras admit that the first disciples of Mahāvīra knew 14 Puvvas and 11 Aṅgas. They relate, however, that not only was the knowledge of the 14 Puvvas lost at an early period, but that, as early as 436 years after Mahāvīra’s Nirvāṇa, the last who knew all the 11 Aṅgas died, and the teachers who succeeded him knew less and less Aṅgas as time went on, until the knowledge of these works was completely lost 683 years after Mahāvīra’s Nirvāṇa.