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Chapter Two
JAINA AGAMAS AND INDIAN CULTURE
The Place of the Agamas in Cultural History of India
Language and Literature apart from art and architecture constitute the most important records of the cultural history of a country. Hence, the study of the Agamas is bound to reveal the most important observations of Jainism and its contribution to Indian culture,
As we all know, the collective term given by the Jainas to their Sacred literature is called Agamas written in Prakṛt just as the Buddhist Piṭakas in Pali and the Brahmanical Vedas in Samskṛt. The Jaina Agamas like the Buddhist Piṭakas contain the sermons of their founders. They were later on codified by their trusted desciples into the language of the people just for the larger benefit of the masses. Thus the original Sacred Books of both the Jainas and the Buddhists were written in Prakṛt, i. e., Ardhamāgadht and Pali respectively. Being missionaries, their mission was to interest not only the intellectuals but the common people and hence they used the language of the common man. The Jaina Agamas accord a very respectable position to Ardhamagadhi by calling it not only the language of the Aryans1 but also of the celestial gods2. The Buddhist Trpiṭakas enjoin upon their followers to use the local dialect of the peoples for the propagation of their sacred teachings. This was nothing but a legitimate protest against the touch-me-not attitude of the Vedic scholars who would never descend down from their ivory tower of
1. Bhagavati Sutra, V. 5. 4.
2. Prajñāpana Sutra, 1.
3. Chulla-Vagga-Khuddaka-Vatthu-Khandha-Buddha-Vacha
na-Nivṛtti.
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