A History of Indian Literature v2.c20.s3.4

v2.c20.s3.4

It may be assumed as certain that, long before the final compilation of the Canon under Devarddhi, the Jaina monks began to write explanations of the sacred texts. The earliest commentaries, the Nijjuttis or Niryuktis, are in some instances very closely interwoven with the Sūtras, or they even supplanted the latter. The Piṇḍa-Nijjutti and the Ogha-Nijjutti appear in the Canon itself, and the Ogha-Nijjutti is even supposed to have been taken from one of the Pūrvas.¹