Viyahapannatti (Bhagavai)

by Jozef Deleu

The Viyahapannatti (Vyakhyaprajnapati) or Bhagavai (Bhagavati) is the fifth Anga of the Jaina Svetambara Canon. It is as the title says a Proclamation of Explanations` viz. of explanations given as a rule by Mahavira the founder of Jainism, in answer to questions raised by his disciples in most cases Goyama Indabhui. Experts have described this monumental work as an omnium gatherum, a tohu bohu etc.: its questions and answers, as a matter of fact, deal with a bewildering variety of topics, embracing all the important domains of the Jaina doctrine; moreover its teachings are presented in many different forms. Deleu Jozef A.C., was born in 1925 at Alveringem, West Flanders. He studied Germanic Philology and in 1947-48 sanskrit and Tocharian at the State University of Ghent. He graduated in 1957 on a dissertation entitled "De Prabandhakosa van Rajasekharasuri.