Brief Survey of Jaina Prakrit and Sanskrit Literature Part 4

Author(s): Nalini Joshi
Publisher: Sanmati Tirth Prakashan Pune

Page 17

as degenerations but from a different angle we can look at it as new devices for existence.
(D) Tattvārtha: Jainism in Nutshell:
For understanding the diversified tendencies of Hinduism, one has to go through the six orthodox Darśanas, but the uniqueness of Tattvārtha contains in presenting philosophical tenets and doctrines, cosmology, epistemology, ethics and spiritual practices in a single text in nutshell. In true sense, Tattvārtha is a crest-jewel of Indian Sūtra literature.
(E) Enrichment of Sanskrit Vocabulary with Jaina Hybrid Sanskrit Terms:
With the help of the vast Jaina Sanskrit literature, a compact dictionary containing Jaina hybrid Sanskrit terms can be prepared. For example, the Prakrit word 'āsava' has two Sanskrit renderings viz. āsrava and āśrava ; 'phāsuya' is Sanskritized as prāsuka and prāśuka ; 'posaha' is given as poșadha, pausadha and prausadha ; 'veuvviya' is rendered as vaikriya, vaikurvika and vaikriyika. The noun is given as 'vikurvaņā'. Staunch Sanskritists dismiss many such words as wrong forms of Skt. words, but since they are used commonly is Jaina Sanskrit works, they should be taken into account. The words like 'piņda', 'uncha' and “kalā' etc. are used in different sense and in different context so they must be included in Sanskrit dictionaries.
(F) Better Understanding of Indian Culture:
Jaina Mahārāstrī story literature provides a rich and variegated data of the contemporary Indian culture. The stories, examples, illustrations and the big narratives like Samarāiccakahā and Kuvalayamālā are full of minute details of the society. We can understand the behavioral patterns of Indians society through the narrative literature about classes and masses, festivals and celebrations, fairs and pilgrims, religious and social ceremonies, customs and beliefs as well as rights and rituals. For the better understanding of the geographical, social, economic and cultural conditions of Indian society, Prakrit and especially JM. literature is a must.
(G) Absence of Female Writers:
It is not an unexpected but very gloomy fact in the male dominated society of India, that there is not even a single female writer among the galaxy of male writers during the history of 25 centuries of Jain literature.
* Utility of the Project * In this project a sincere attempt has been made to present the history of Jain literature in century-wise form.
A Researcher can select various topics for his studies, such as: 1] A particular century, with all subjects and languages 2] All the works of a particular author 3] Development of a particular subject in each century 4] Graph of a particular language through all the centuries 5] How and why the new subjects and literary forms arose during these centuries? 6] Comparative century-wise history of Jaina, Buddhist and Hindu literature.