Life in Ancient India as Depicted in the Jain Canons, with Commentaries: An Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey c5.s10.1

c5.s10.1

The Canonical books of the Jains are important for many reasons. They represent the teachings of Mahāvīra and the ancient historical traditions regarding the religion of the Jains. The *Kalpa Sūtra*, for example, records Mahāvīra’s life including his itinerary during his ascetic life, his predecessors, his Gaṇadharas or heads of the Schools and the list of the Patriarchs (*Therāvalī*) together with their *gaṇas*, *kulas* and *śākhās*. The *Bhagavatī Sūtra* in its different dialogues gives a vivid picture of the life and work of Mahāvīra, his relationship to his disciples and the contemporary kings and princes. It contains a presentation of the Jain dogmas in the form of questions and answers between Mahāvīra and his disciple Indrabhūti. The *Thāṇāṅga* records the names of the eight kings ordained by Mahāvīra and various other important points of interest. The *Uvāsagadasāo* contains chapters on the lives of ten lay disciples of Mahāvīra, and the stories of the *Nāyādhammakahā* explain the teachings of the Lord. Further, the *Ācārāṅga*, the *Sūtrakṛtāṅga* and the *Uttarādhyayana* contain the oldest part of the Canon from linguistic and literary points of view.¹¹ The last-mentioned Canon consists of valuable poems in the form of beautiful parables and similes, dialogues and ballads after the true manner of the ascetic poetry of ancient India. These poems have their parallels in the Buddhist and the Brahmanic literature and bear striking resemblance to the *Jātakas*, *Dhammapada*, *Suttanipāta* and the *Śāntiparva* of the *Mahābhārata*.¹² In the *Uttarādhyayana* we come across the story of king Nimi, one of the Prateyaka Buddhas in the Buddhist legends, in which the ideal of asceticism is preached. Then there is the legend of Harikesa, the holy man of low caste, which bears an exact resemblance to the *Matanga Jātaka*. Similarly the chapters on Citra and Sambhūta and Isukāra belong to the great cycle of tales of king Brahmadatta, forming remarkable parallels to the *Jātakas*, the *Cittasambhūta Jātaka* and *Hatthipāla Jātaka*.¹³ Then the meeting between Kesī, a pupil of Pārsva, and Goyama, a pupil of Mahāvīra and their discussion on various points of ancient and contemporary creed throws a flood of light on the past history of Jainism and may be considered valuable document for the history of ancient Jain tenets.¹⁴ The *Rāyapaseniya* records a dialogue between Kesī and the king Paesī which reminds us of the *Pāyāsi Sutta* of the *Digha Nikāya*. It records another statement saying that a Brāhmana who had committed certain crimes should be branded with the image of a dog (sunaga) or a kundiya pot on his forehead,¹⁵ which coincides with a similar statement in Kautilya’s *Arthaśāstra*.¹⁶ This form of punishment, as has been remarked by Jarl Charpentier, does not occur in *Manu* and the later law-books, where corporal punishments on Brāhmanas are not permissible, which shows that the Jain Canons must be nearer to the time of Kautilya than that of the later *Dharmasāstras*. The *Rāyapaseniya* also contains various architectural and musical terms which are considerably old and are rarely found elsewhere. Then the *Ovāiya* gives a beautiful description of king Kūniya and his pilgrimage to lord Mahāvīra in Campā. The *Niryāvaliyāo* refers to the great battle between Kūniya and Cetaka when the eighteen confederate kings are stated to have sided with the latter. Lastly, the *Cheda sūtras* belong to the earliest portion of the Canon, prescribing the rules of life and conduct for the monks and nuns and the prescriptions for atonement of sins. Here we come across the rules about the entire discipline of the order, which bear resemblance to the *Vinaya* of the Buddhists.¹⁷