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Shri Mahavir Jain Aradhana Kendra
www.kobatirth.org
Acharya Shri Kailassagarsuri Gyanmandir
Contribution of Jainism to Philosophy, History and Progress
Virchand R. Gandhi
The sacred libraries of the Jains, established at various periods of our history for the purpose of facilitating to laymen the study of their philosophy and religion, contain thousands of manuscripts, some of which have not been allowed to be even looked at, for the reason that the Jains, not being aware of the motives of the European scholars, are still apprehensive of the consequences of Mohammedan sacrilege and destruction of everything that is holy. The libraries of Pattan, Cambay, and Jessulmir have a worldwide reputation. A portion of manuscripts, deposited in those libraries, has been catalogued by Professors Buhler, Kielhorn, Bhandarkar, and others. Distant seems to be the day when the European scholars will take an active interest in the philosophy embodied in those works. Four canonical works have been translated into English by Professor Jacobi in the "Sacred Books of the East" series. Portions of others are translated by continental Orientalists. Almost the whole canon in original, with commentaries and Gujarati translations, has been published by the late Rai Dhanapatisinh Bahadur of Murshidabad. Some later works have been published by Bhimsinh Manek, the well-known Jain publisher of Bombay, now deceased. Much still remains to be done in the way of publication.
The Jains have been a powerful and influential community in the history of India. Some of them held high positions under native and Mohammedan rule. Writing so far back as 1829, Colonel James Tod says in his “Annals Rajasthan.”
"The number and power of these sectarians (Jains) are little known to Europeans, who take it for granted that they are few and dispersed. To prove the extent of their religious and political power it will suffice to remark that the Pontiff of the Kharataragachha, one of the many branches of the faith, has 11,000 clerical disciples scattered over India; that a single community, the Ossior Oswal, numbers 100,000 families; and that more than half the mercantile wealth of
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| SR No. | 525308 |
| Book Title | Shrutsagar 2016 03 Volume 02 10 |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Hiren K Doshi |
| Publisher | Acharya Kailassagarsuri Gyanmandir Koba |
| Publication Year | 2016 |
| Total Pages | 36 |
| Language | Gujarati |
| Classification | Magazine, India_Shrutsagar, & India |
| File Size | 4 MB |