The latter work adds little that is material from an historical point of view, but a great deal of descriptions which have become typical and are to be found in other Gaina works adapted to similar circumstances. The Âkârâṅga Sûtra contains, besides the above-mentioned paragraphs, some verses which are wanting in the Kalpa Sûtra, On comparing these verses with those in the eighth lecture of the first book, we become aware of the great difference which subsists between both portions of the Âkârâṅga Sûtra, for in both, kindred subjects are treated in Âryâ verses, yet the difference in style and in the treatment of the metre is such as can only be explained by the assumption of a considerable distance of time.
The latter part of the third Kûlâ, which treats of the five great vows, with their twenty-five clauses, calls for no further remark; nor is anything more to be said about the twelve verses which make up the fourth Kûlâ, but that they are probably old, and have been added here for want of a better place.
The translation of the Âkârâṅga Sûtra is based on my edition of the text in the Pâli Text Society, [1] and the commentaries printed in the Calcutta edition of the Âkârâṅga Sûtra. They are:
- Tîkâ of Sîlâṅka, also called Tattvâditya, said to have been finished in the Saka year 798 or 876 A.D., with the help of Vâhari Sâdhu.
- Dîpikâ of Ginahamsa Sûri, a teacher of the Brihat Kharatara Gakkha. The Dîpikâ is almost verbally copied from the Tîkâ, which it pretends to reduce to a smaller compass. But the reduction consists almost entirely in the omission of Sîlâṅka's comments on the Niryukti verses, which form his introduction to every lecture and lesson.
- Pârsvakandra's Bâlâvabodha or Gugerati Gloss. In some parts of the second book, which are not explained in the older commentaries, this gloss was the only help I had. It generally closely follows the explanation of the older commentaries, more especially that of the Dîpikâ.
About the Kalpa Sûtra I have spoken at some length in
- ↑ The Âyârâmga Sutta of the Çvetâmbara Gains, London, 1882.
