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II
The Antiquity of Jainism.
Upto the close of the last century, even 1 impartial scholars held very vague opinions about Jainism, which were unfortunately based on hearsay. The superficial resemblance of Jainism with Buddhism and Hinduism also did not actuate them to study Jaina literature. There was also another difficulty;the literature on Jainism, being mainly in Prakrit and Sanskrit. was not easily accessible to those scholars who did not know these old oriental languages.
It is indeed a pity that while other systems of Indian philosophy have so many exponents, both in India and abroad, the rich, deep and vest treasures of the Jaina thought relating to all fields of culture, should be so little known to the world at large. This deficiency is, however, now being made up by several organizations of the Jaina community.
In showing the antiquity of Jainism, we have to refer to those scholars who have made
