Jain Journal 1992 04

SR No.: 520106
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication
Publication Year: 1992
Total Pages: 70
Language: English
Classification: Magazine, India_Jain Journal, & India
File Size: 4 MB

Page 14

APRIL, 1992
out of the question." As in the previous year, Jain manuscripts once again dominated his acquisitions. Of the 200 works he added to the Bombay Sanskrit Collection during the year, 123 were Jain titles. "All these manuscripts are remarkable, not only for their age, but also for the form, the writing, and the material on which they are written."9 In further describing the titles he observed "the form of the letters resembles the peculiar cramped hand of the more modern Jaina manuscripts, but the letters are very large, similar in size to those found in the inscriptions of the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries. One very striking feature is the form of the initial i, which frequently consists of two dots and a stroke beneath, and resembles that of the Shah and Gupta inscriptions. The gh, too, has an archaic form; it consists of three vertical strokes, joined above and below by horizontal ones."
"10
Bühler's searches constantly alerted him to additional places to visit, "palm-leaf manuscripts of this description, which are held in great esteem by the Jainas, are said to be found in larger numbers in Cambay and Pathan only. But one is said to exist in Surat, a few in Limdi and Vadhvan, and three are stated to be in the possession of the Jaina High Priest at Ahmedabad. One of the Limdi manuscripts, which contains the Avaśyakasutra, and is dated Samvat 1189, or 1133 A.D., has been sent to me by the owner as a loan." In concluding his report Bühler proudly announced "copies of all the forty-five sacred works of the Jainas, with the exception of three very small treatises, have now been obtained, and Sanskrit commentaries on most of them."12
203
In 1872 Alexander Cunningham, Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India, brought to the attention of the Government of India Tod's 1839 remarks about Jain libraries in Princely India. He also added his own experience "in the great fortress of Bhatner I have myself seen a room 10 or 12 feet long, and about 6 feet broad, half filled with manuscripts, fastened up in the Native way in red cloth, and piled one on another to a height of about 4 feet. From amongst
8 Georg Bühler, "Report on the Results of My Search for Sanskrit Manuscripts during the Period from July 1st, 1872 to May 15th, 1873" in Gough, op. cit., p. 100.
9 Ibid., p. 102.
10 Ibid., p. 103.
11 Ibid., p. 103.
12 Ibid., p. 103.