Proceedings and papers of National Seminar on Jainology

Author(s): Yugalkishor Mishra
Publisher: Research Institute of Prakrit Jainology & Ahimsa Mujjaffarpur

Page 188

Pali Sakkāya and Prakrit
Atthikāya: A Comparative Study
Dr. Nathmal Tatia*
There has been much speculation on the meanings of Sakkāya and Atthikāya. We shall give a brief summary of the speculations on the meaning of the Pali word Sakkāya, and also of the Prakrit word Atthikāya.
On Sakkāya
R.C. Childers has derived the word Sakkāya as sva plus kāya, own body or person, in his A Dictionary of the Pali Language. Franklin Edgerton, in his Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammar and Dictionary, commenting on the Childers' vicw and the opinions of other scholars on the subject remarks: There seems little doubt of the etymology and fundamental meaning of this word (probably no one now agrees with Childers that it was sva-kāya); and the scholastic fantasics of various schools listed by LaV-P, i.. Abhidh K. V. 15-17 nccd not be recorded here, though they cvidently influenced Tibetan and Chinesc intcrprctations.
Let us now go to the ancient Pali texts to sce what they actually mean by the word Sakkāya. In the Majjhimanikāya (Nālanda) Edition, Vol. I, pp. 36917, it is said that the five groups of grasping are called Sakkāya by the Lord (panca upādānakkhandhā sakkāyo vutto bhagavatā), that is to say, the group of grasping alter material shape, the group of grasping after feeling, the group of grasping after pcrccption, the group of grasping after the habitual tendencies, the group of grasping after consciousness. These five groups of grasping are called Sakkāya.' In this connection the words sakkāyasamudaya, sakkāyanirodha, and sakkāyaniraodhagāmini pațipadā are also explained. The sakkāyasamudaya (arising of Sakkāya) is explained as the craving (tariā) leading to rebirth, accompanied by delight and attachment. The sakkāyanirodha (the stopping of Sakkāya) is explained as stopping of the craving with no attachment remaining. The sakkāyaniroda-gūmini patipudā (thc .course leading to the stopping of Sakkaya) is the cightsold noblc path, that is to say, perfect vicw, perfect
*
Director, Jain Vishva-Bharati, Ladnun-341 306 (Rajasthan)