Contribution of Prakrit to Jain Canonical Literature

SR No.: 250067
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: N Vasupal
Publisher: Z_Mohanlal_Banthiya_Smruti_Granth_012059.pdf
Publication Year: 1998
Total Pages: 9
Language: English
Classification: Article & Literature
File Size: 575 KB

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of works. Some are in prose, some in verse and some in prose and verses. The prose of Acaränga contains interwoven manifold difficulties of interpretation. The old prose works are diffused in style with endless mechanical repetitions. Some works contain pithy remarks pregnant with meaning. The didactic sections present vigorous exposition in a fluent style. The standardised descriptions, obviously siming at a literary effect are heavy in construction with irregular compound expressions. The rules of monastic life are full of details and the dogmatic lessons show a good deal of systematic expositions. There are narratives containing parables and similes of symbolic significance. There are exemplary stories of ascetic heroes and there are debates on dogmatic topics, in addition to biographical details about Pārśva, Mahavira and their contemporaries. The canon when studied along with Pali tests, yields valuable information about contemporary life and thought.
Mahavira is said to have preached in Ardhamägadhi form of prakrit, which, therefore, is the name of the canonical language. The older portions preserve archaic forms of language and style. These gradually disappear in later works, and there is seen the influence of linguistic tendencies well known in Mahārāştri which was evolving as a literary language in the early centuries of the Christian era. Such a modernisation was inevitable in course of oral transmission especially because the Svetambara monks were already using the Prakrit not only as a language of religious scriptures but also as a vehicle of literary expression. In the verses common to both the Digambara tests soften the intervoclic consonants, while those of the Svetambaras lose them leaving behind the vowels.
दर्शन दिग्दर्शन
Prior to the Pataliputra Council, at the time of Chandragupta Maurya, a body of Jaina monks, on the
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