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who himself is a great scholar, launched the unique and prescient project of publishing illustrated Agam literature with Hindi and English translations. In the beginning we were doubtful of the response of the readers to these high priced editions. The reason being that a majority of readers like light-reading material. Even the mention of the term Shastra (scripture) is shocking to them. To them the scriptures are meant to be placed on an altar and worshipped with reverence and not to be read. The common reader considers scriptures to be beyond his ability to read and grasp. That is why any plan to publish scriptures is not only considered bold but also something against the popular taste and demand.
However, on the basis of our own experience of last four-five years we can confidently say that this concept is not entirely true. People read, they want to read, they have a liking for reading provided they are able to understand what they read. What they read should be interesting. This inspired us to adopt and perfect this style of presentation. We reproduce the original text in the ancient Ardha-magadhi Prakrit language and give simple translations in modern idiom in Hindi and English, to make it easily readable and comprehensible to the common reader. To make the reading all the more enjoyable and to reveal the rich cultural heritage for easy absorption, we also include colourful illustrations.
The success of our experiment has given us ample confidence that in future we shall slowly but surely gain new heights. In spite of the high cost involved, there is a growing demand of these publications by readers of every sect and school from all parts of the country as well as the world. Purchasing and reading a high priced publication is indicative of the interest of the reader. Where there is an interest, there is a thirst for knowledge as well as scope of success. We are hopeful that our goal of publishing all scriptures will slowly embrace success and serve its purpose of creating a readership of spiritual books.
Up-pravartak Shri Amar Muni ji Maharaj initially prepared Shri Prashna-vyakaran Sutra (two volumes), Shri Sutra-kritang Sutra (two volumes), and Shri Bhagavati Sutra (four volumes) and they were published. After this, he launched the project of publishing illustrated Agam literature. Under this project the already published works areIllustrated Antakritdasha Sutra, Illustrated Uttaradhyayan Sutra (second edition in process), Illustrated Kalpa Sutra, Illustrated
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