Satkhandagama
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Satkhandāgama, also know as the "Scripture in Six Parts", is the foremost and oldest Digambara Jain sacred text. According to Digambara tradition, the original canonical scriptures of the Jains were totally lost within a few centuries of Nirvana of Lord Mahavira. Hence, Satkhandāgama is the most revered Digambara text that has been given the status of āgama. The importance of the Satkhandāgama to the Digambaras can be gauged by the fact that, the day the Dhavalā commentary was completed, it is commemorated as Shruta Pañcami, a day when all the Jaina scriptures are venerated.
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[edit] Origins
It is said to have been based on oral teaching of the Digambara monk, ācārya Dharasena (2nd Century CE). According to the tradition, alarmed at the gradual dwindling of scriptural knowledge, he summoned two monks, ācārya Pushpadanta and ācārya Bhūtabali to a cave, known as "Candra Gupha", or the Moon Cave, his retreat in mount Girnar, Gujarat, and communicated what he remembered out of originally vast extent of sacred Jaina writings. The palm leaf writings of this long work, originally written in Prakrit were deposited sometime in the early centuries of the Common Era in the Digambara holy place of Mudabidri, a temple town in South-West Karnataka. Here, these scriptures were treated with great reverence, but became mere objects of worship. Digambara āgamas like Satkhandāgama and the Kasāyapāhuda were in a state of neglect and were not studied or made available to the community.
[edit] Revival to the Modern Society
In the 20th century, Dr. Hiralal Jain was one of the first few lay scholars who decided to retrieve the āgamas, and bring to light with systematic editing and proof reading. With the help of his scholar friends like Pandit Nathuram Premi and Jamunaprasada Sub-Judge, he raised the funds to publish the āgamas, and set out to extricate the āgamas from Mudabidri, where the original handwritten Prakrit manuscripts had lain for centuries, unstudied. Dr Hiralal Jain, Pt Nathuram Premi and Jamunaprasada sub-judge together managed to convince Seth Sitabray Gulabray, a wealthy land-owner from Vidisha (Bundelkhand, Madhya Pradesh) belonging to the Paravāra community, to donate Rs. 30,000 for the cause of editing and publishing the Satkhandāgama along with its Dhavalā commentary, expertly edited and accompanied by an excellent Hindi translation. This donation enabled Dr Hiralal Jain to work together with Dr. A.N. Upadhye, close friend and a scholar of Prakrit. Dr. Hiralal Jain brought together a team of scholars including, Pt. Phulchandra Shastri, Pt. Hiralal Shastri and Pt. Balachandra Shastri started the project of revival and study of the Digambara āgama. These scholars had to face stiff opposition from the monks and the traditional srāvakas who were opposed to the very concept of printing religious scriptures as they felt that printing would undermine the purity of the scripture.
In a period of twenty years, the Satkhandāgama, along with its massive Dhavalā and Mahādhavalā commentaries was edited from the original palm leaf manuscripts and published after very careful proof reading in consultation with senior Jaina scholars like Pt. Nathuram Premi and Pt. Devakinandan Shastri.
[edit] Subject matter of the Agama
Satkhandāgama postulates karma theory, using a number of technical terms defining various concepts and mathematical notions. One interesting fact about the Satkhandāgama is that it is believed that the 5 pada Namokāra Mantra is believed to have been composed by ācārya Virasena as the mangalacarana (opening verse, often an invocation to god for the successful completion of the text) to the Satkhandāgama. Before this work, only the 2 pada Namokāra Mantra has been found in inscriptions. Hence, there is reason to believe that ācārya Virasena was the first person to compose the 5 pada Namokāra Mantra. The Satkhandāgama is a highly complex work, adumbrating the Jaina karma siddhānta. It is a Digambara work, but is seen as an authoritative work on the Jaina karma theory by all Jains.
[edit] Commentary
The Satkhandāgama, as the name suggests, is a Scripture in six parts. The commentary on the first five parts is known as the Dhavalā. The commentary on the sixth part is known as the Mahādhavalā. The other Digambara āgama, the Kasāyapāhuda, also has a voluminous commentary. It is called the Jaya Dhavalā. All three commentaries were composed by ācārya Virasena and ācārya Jinasena (8th century CE).
[edit] Hindi and English Translations
The first five parts of the Satkhandāgama along with the Dhavalā commentary and Hindi translation, running into 16 Volumes, was first published from Vidisha itself, by the family of Shrimant Seth Sitabray Gulabray. But is now published by the Jaina Sanskriti Sanrakshak Sangh in Solapur and distributed by [Hindi Granth Karyalay], Mumbai. The Mahādhavalā commentary and Hindi translation, running into 7 Volumes, is published from New Delhi by Bharatiya Jñanapitha. The Kasāyapāhuda along with the JayaDhavalā commentary and Hindi translation, running into 16 Volumes, is published by Jaina Sangha, Mathura and distributed by [Hindi Granth Karyalay], Mumbai.
Popular English Translations are :- SATKHANDAGAMA : DHAVALA Part One SATPRARUPANA Enunciation of Existence - An English Translation of Part 1 of the Dhavala Commentary on the Satkhandagama of Acarya Pushpadanta & Bhutabali Dhavala commentary by Acarya Virasena English tr. by Prof. Nandlal Jain, Ed. by Prof. Ashok Jain
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