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Under a new JAINA Education committee, this 3rd edition series has gone through major revisions incorporating suggestions received from various Päthashälä teachers, educators, and students from different centers. The new committee members are Jain Päthashälä teachers of various centers and they have spent countless hours in the preparation of this material. Great care has been taken to present the material in a non-sectarian way and incorporate the uniqueness of every Jain sect. Most of the books have been rewritten with the addition of many new topics. Significant effort has been made to maintain consistency in the spellings of Jain words. Many youth have helped us in improving the English grammar in these books. The names of people who helped us in the preparation of this series are also listed in this section.
Jain scriptures are written using Devanägari characters. To pronounce these characters in English correctly, it is necessary to put various diacritical marks on some English vowels and consonants. However, most internet browsers and word processors do not display and print all these transliterated characters. The main objective of these books is to teach the principles of Jainism to Jain youth and lay people who do not have the knowledge of this transliteration convention. As a result, a simplified diacritical mark scheme has been adopted for this series. The transliteration used here is neither authentic nor totally consistent. While it will serve the purpose of learning Jain principles, this book should not be used for learning correct pronunciations.
The estimated cost of preparation and reprinting this education series will be $65,000. We have received great enthusiastic support in terms of advance payment from various Jain organizations and contributions from various individuals. Please support JAINA education activity generously. We distribute the religious books on a cost basis. The names of financial supporters are listed in this section.
The Jain Alphabet Book (JES 103 - Level 1) for young children was recompiled using the 2nd edition book. Both the contents and the grammar were improved by adults and youth volunteers. Also, the members may have used other sources, and we are grateful to the authors and publishers for being able to use their work liberally.
Please note that the JAINA Education committee members are Jain Päthashälä teachers and are not Jain scholars. Hence, you may find some errors in the
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Jain Education International
JAIN ALPHABET BOOK
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
