Bhagavana Mahavira and his Relevance in Modern Times

Author(s): Narendra Bhanavat, Prem Suman Jain, V P Bhatt
Publisher: Akhil Bharat Varshiya Sadhumargi Jain Sangh

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Mahāvīra and His Relevence
that they exerted their influence of Sanskrit. In this connection, some of the Buddhist and Jain works are worth meniioning. The works of Mahāyāna Buddhism are written in Gathā dialect or 'mixed Sanskrit, and so is the Cūrni literature of the Jaina composed in Prakrit mixed with Sanskrit. Not only the works like Lalitavistara and Mahāvastu of Northern Buddhism show traces of Prakritism, but their influence can also be seen in Sadharmapuņdarika, another work of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Its prose is in pure Sanskrit and the Gāthā in mixed Sanskrit. It is contended that the work originally consisted only of verses with shori prose passages by way of introduction. Lüders holds that the original text was written in Prakrit was gradually sanskritised.
Jain authors of Sanskrit works also do not seem to be free from the influence of Prakrit which is obvious in many Sanskrit texts such as Parisistaparvan of Hemachandra, Dharmapariksā of Amitagati, Samarādityasaṁksepa of Pradyumanasūri and others. Even the Sanskrit digests of Bịhatkathā are influenced by Prakritism in their language. There are evidences in Bșhatkathākoşa of Ravişeņa( 10th century A. D.) which prove that the author has made an attempt to sanskritised certain Prakrit words. The words arjikā (ajjiyā in Prākrit), ujjavana (ujjavana in P), Kathānaka (Khanaga in P), ksamāpaņa (kamāvana in P), Kahajjaka (khajjaga in P), gahillaka (gahilla in P) chilataka (chilāa in P), dohala (dohala in P), Prāghūrnaka (Pahuņņaya in P),maithunika (mehuņiya in P),rathyā (rachcha in P), and many others can be cited as examples (A. N. Upadhye, Brhatkathākosa Introduction, pp. 95-96, 110-112). Why Jains preferred Prakrit Dialect
The Prakrit literature is very important from the point of view of the study of modern Indian languages. The Jain authors of Prakrit literature took great care to see that their writings were accessible to the common people. It is laid down in ancient Jain scriptures that the Jain monks should be efficient in the regional languages of the place concerned so that they are able to impart instruction to the people easily. Consequently, the Jains used Prakrit, Sanskrit, Apabhramsa, and later, Indian vernaculars to preach religious sermons. Development of Narrative Literature :
The Jains have developed a voluminous narrative literature in the form of epics and novels, dramas and hymns in simple languages.