Some Jaina Canonical Sutras c18.2

c18.2

The *Ovavāiya sūya*¹ (*Aupapātika Sūtra*) which is also called the *Uvavāiya* is counted as the first *upānga* among the texts of the Śvetāmbara canon. Some hold that the Sanskritized form *Aupapātika* is erroneous. *Uvavāiya* means the attainment of an existence as pointed out by S. Lévi.² An *upānga* is by its name and definition an ancillary work. Abhayadeva Sūri has written the earliest commentary on it. This text consists of 189 *sūtras*, each of which is represented by a complete paragraphic statement on a particular topic or by a particular stanza, if it is in verse. The *suttas* forming the concluding part of the text are in verse, while the preceding portion is mostly in prose. The stanzas forming the concluding *suttas* 168-169 are really interesting and important as epitomizing the statements in prose on the spiritual position and destiny of the *siddhas* or perfected ones. There are similar mnemonics also under a few other *suttas* such as 49, 56, 76 and 144. The method of treatment followed is catechetical. The text seeks to combine a treatise and a book of discourses into an organic whole. It presents its subject-matter broadly in two contexts: (1) the meeting of Mahāvīra and king Kūṇika of Campā, and (2) the meeting of Mahāvīra and his senior disciple Indrabhūti. Its object is to impress on the mind of the hearer or reader the unsurpassed greatness of Mahāvīra’s personality, the superior worth of his teachings, and the superior position of his disciples, lay, ordained and advanced. The place assigned to the *siddhas* is the highest of all. The hierarchical order is carefully shown in the second context or book comprising the *suttas* 62-189. The Pāli *Puggalapaññatti*,³ a book of the *Abhidhammapiṭaka*, presents the classified human types in a hierarchical order of its own, but its treatment is thoroughly psycho-ethical but not historical. The true Pāli counterpart of it is to be traced in those *suttas* in which the *nitthās* or goals are distinguished.