Jaina Philosophy

SR No.: 006901
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Virchand R Gandhi, Kumarpal Desai
Publisher: World Jain Confederation
Publication Year: 2009
Total Pages: 298
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 5 MB

Page 228

ved Contribution of Jainism to Philosophy, History and Progress holy. The libraries of Pattan, Cambay, and Jessulmir have a worldwide reputation. A portion of manuscripts, deposited in those libraries, has been catalogued by professors Buhler, Kielhorn, Bhandarkar, and others. Distant seems to be the day when the European, scholars will take an active interest in the philosophy embodied in those works. Four canonical works have been translated into English by Professor Jacobi in the "Sacred Books of the East" series. Portions of others are translated by continental Orientalists. Almost the whole canon in original, with commentaries and Gujrati translations, has been published by the late Rai Dhanapatisinh Bahadur of Murshidabad. Some later works have been published by Bhimasinh Manak, the well-known Jaina publisher of Bombay, now deceased. Much still remains to be done in the way of publication.
The Jainas have been a powerful and influential community in the history of India. Some of them held high positions under native and Mohammedan rule. Writing so far back as 1829, Colonel James Tod says in his Annals of Rajasthan :
"The number and power of these sectarians (Jainas) are little known to Europeans, who take it for granted that they are few and dispersed. To prove the extent of their religious and political power it will suffice to remark that the Pontiff of the Kharataragachha, one of the many branches of the faith, has 11,000 clerical disciples scattered over India; that a single community, the Ossi or Oswal, numbers 100,000 families; and that more than half the mercantile wealth of India passes through the hands of the Jaina laity. Rajasthan and Saurashtra are the cradles of the Jaina faith, and three out of their sacred mounts, namely, Abu, Palitana, and Girnar, are in these contries. The officers of the State and revenue are chiefly of the Jaina laity, as are the majority of the bankers from Lahore to the ocean. The chief magistrate and assessors of justice in Udeypur and most of the towns of Rajasthan, are of this sect; and as their voluntary