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FOREWORD
for adaptation, in spite of its certain in-built rigidities.
In this context, it would be pertinent to refer to some of the peculiar devices and methods improvised by these inscriptions for overcoming the constraints imposed by the highly limited space available in the pedastals of the idols for communicating all the essential particulars regarding the family details of persons with whose philanthropic donations the idols were made and installed, the particulars regarding the spiritual teachers who provided the necessary inspiration and directed the installation, the religious motivation behind the installation, the place and date of installation and so on. It is highly interesting to note how admirably all this information is squeezed into the few available lines. This is achieved by the inscriptions mainly by setting a fixed pattern of sentence-structure where much is said by implication without being spelt out in so many words. I shall refer here to one such feature, by way of illustration. The names of all the persons in the lineage, extending to two, three or sometimes even four generations stand self-explained by the strict pattern of the sequence, where the name of the male primogenitor is followed by the name or names, in order of his wife or wives, their son or sons with the names of their wives immediately following them in the order of their seniority. Though all this is not said in so many words, the intended sense is quite perspicuous. There are also a few inscriptions which practically dispense with the basic syntactical requirements of senctence structure but still succeed in communicating the intentions of the author. Here is a fine random sample (no. 1176).
संवत् 1610 वर्षे फागुण वदि 2 दिने श्रीपत्तनवास्तव्य श्रीलघुउसवालज्ञाती सिठि जिनदास भार्या वीराइ सुत राइचंद भार्या पाची सिठि टीकर भा० साषू सुत कीका श्रीशीतलनाथबिंब कारापितं तपागच्छाधिपति भट्टारकश्रीपं०विजयदानसूरिप्रतिष्ठितं ।। कल्याणमस्तु ।
The purport, is sufficiently clear. Two businessmen, referred to as fofo (obviously a corrupt form of stoot) named Jinadāsa and Țīkara and their wives and sons got the idol of Sri Sitalanātha made and Sri Vijayadāna-Sūri, the reigning pontiff of Tapā-Gaccha installed it. But the language smacks of and partakes of the nature of what used to be called 'Butler-English', in common parlance during the days of British rule in India'. Even the minimum rules of sentence construction like the use of instrumental case-ending with the subject invariably observed in these inscriptions are conveniently ignored here; but the communication is unambiguous and leaves nothing to be desired. When the writer is not equipped to write grammatical Sanskrit, the compulsions of communication become the mother of invention and in such situations,
| SR No. | 007173 |
| Book Title | Patan Jain Dhatu Pratima Lekh Sangraha |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Lakshmanbhai H Bhojak |
| Publisher | B L Institute of Indology |
| Publication Year | 2002 |
| Total Pages | 360 |
| Language | Hindi, Sanskrit |
| Classification | Book_Devnagari |
| File Size | 25 MB |