________________ are some texts written in old Hindi and old Rajasthani by jewellers and even by Jaina monks. But these are faithful renderings of the Sanskrit originals and do not exhibit any innovations.18 An old Gujarati text of the fifteenth or sixteenth century called Vividha- varnaka enumerates tamkapariksa (i.e. examination of coins ) as one of the sciences, 19 but except the Dravyapariksa no other text on this subject has been discov. ered so far. Just as English is used today in India for the sake of pan-Indian or even worldwide communication, the Hindu and Jaina scientists wrote in the pan-Indian medium of Sanskrit until it was replaced by English. Thakkura Pheru, therefore, remains the only versatile scholar to have attempted to popularise science. 18 Cf. Agarchand Nahata and Bhanwar Lal Nahata, Ratnapariksa, Calcutta n. d. 19 See Varnaka-Samuccaya, ed. B. J. Sandesera, Pt 1, Baroda 1956, p. 48. up ] Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org
