The Doctrine of the Jainas, Described after the Old Sources c7.18

c7.18

We have seen that our interpretation of the word puvva-gaya is, partly, based upon what both Samav. and Nandī say with regard to the contents of Anga 12. Though there can be no doubt that these are merely rhetorical, we must suppose that the names of the sections have been preserved just as faithfully as those of Anga 11. The minute descriptions of the subsections, on the other hand, seem to be fictitious, and all attempts of an interpretation are useless, since he who wrote down the alleged contents had the Diṭṭhivāya no longer before him.¹ No less fantastic, therefore, is the extent in vatthu or "subjects" attributed to the Puvva (to be seen also in Samav. 25a; 26b; 35b; 44b and in Ṭhāṇ.), to say nothing of their number of words. Their alleged size corresponds with their gradual loss, as referred to by the Śvetāmbaras and registered in the posthumous spiritual titles of cauddasa-(coddasa-), dasa-and even nava-puvvi. The last to know all 14 of them was Sthūlabhadra (§ 23). For it was he whom they were told by Bhadrabāhu upon the request of the Council of Pāṭaliputra, but he was forbidden to teach others more than ten (Par. 9, 110). After the seventh patriarch following Sthūlabhadra even these were lost. And that is why Mahāgiri and his successors up to Vajra are called dasapūrvin. So far the Śvetāmbaras; the Digambaras have eleven dasapūrvadhārin with other names. The last of them, Dharmasena, is reported to have died in 315 A.M.²