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Studies in Jainology, Prakrit
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SIGNIFICANCE OF SOME JAINA COSMOGRAPHIC
CONCEPTS
According to the Digambara tradition, the Jaina Cosmographic knowledge, or the picture of the universe with its inhabitants and objects, has come down right from Lord Mahāvīra. The Ganadharas collected it as it was revealed by the Lord and handed it over through a long succession of teachers who later compiled the same into standard works like the Tiloyapannatti, the Tiloya-sāra, the Lokavibhāga etc. The Svetāmbara tradition is the same as well. The Ardhamāgadhi Canon, the codified corpus of Lord Mahavira's teachings, comprises cosmographical works like the Suriyapannatti, the Candapannatti and the Jambuddiva-pannatli besides having a considerable amount of cosmographical details in a few other canonical works like the Pannavanā, the Thänāmga and the Samavāyamga.' Eminent scholars like Kirfel are quite pleased to find such systematic and extensive Jaina treatises on cosmography which is not the casc with other rcligious communities of India.' This fact indicates the degree of importance the early Jaina teachers had given to cosmography among other branches of knowledge. In thc Jaina literary history
cosmographical works are called the Karangranthas, forming a Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only
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