________________
The Late
Hira Kumari
Bothra
October, 1905-May 12, 1968
Hira Kumari Bothra was a profound Sanskrit scholar who had specialised in Jaina Scriptures under the guidance of Pandit Sukhlalji. Shortly after her marriage she became a widow which turned her to the world of learning. By untiring effort she became a Vyakaraṇa-Sankhya-Vedantatirtha and forged a permanent link with scholarship which ended only with her passing away. Apart from her occasional writings and speeches, we have a translation by her of the first Srutaskanda of Acārānga Sutra into Bengali which was published by the Jaina Svetambara Terapanthi Mahasabha of Calcutta. She had a very valuable collection of books and manuscripts on Jainism which she donated to the Prakrit Jain Institute, Vaisali, before her death. Quoted below, as a mark of our respect to her memory is the English rendering of a few lines from her introduction to the Bengali version of the Acaranga Sutra:
"...Of the eleven Angas that are extant the foremost is Acārānga. In comparison with other Angas, this Anga is more significant. A Commentary on this was prepared by an Acārya named Bhadrabahu 170 years after the death of Mahavira, which contains the following:
āyāro angānām padhamam angam duvala sanahampi itha ya mokekhāvão asaya saro pavayaṇassa.
"Of the twelve Angas, Acaranga is the first. It indicates the way of liberation and this Anga is the essence of all the Sastras."
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