Doctrine of Jainas

Author(s): Walther Shubring, Wolfgang Beurlen
Publisher: Motilal Banarasidas

Page 22

10
OF THE JAINAS
time. But, unfortunately, in this case too, printing was stopped when the 14th form (in folio) had been composed. Not until 34 years later this fragment, rich in contents, but difficult to study, was published by the AUTHOR who was fortunate enough to find the proofs being preserved1.
§ 7. All history of literature, a building, as it were, has for its ground-floor the bio-bibliographical materials. Jain research would have enjoyed the great luck of having them at its disposal, if KLATT's Onomasticon had been completed and printed. Eight volumes from his own hand in alphabetical order contain what was within his reach to collect data concerning Jain authors and works. But he fell severely ill and never recovered. The work was estimated to fill some 1,100 pages in print, but no more than 55 pages have been printed as a specimen thanks to WEBER and LEUMANN2. The first to become a bibliographer of Jainism was GUÉRINOT by his "Essai de bibliographie jaina" (1906). A modern standard was not reached until 1944, when VELANKAR's Jinaratnakosa appeared, where the Jain works have been catalogued, while a second volume containing their authors is still waiting for being published. A primitive forerunner had been the "Jaina Granthavali" published by the Jain Svetāmbara Conference in 1908.
DOCTRINE
Another fundament for Jain history are the inscriptions. GUERINOT's "Essai" was followed in 1908 by a "Répertoire d'épigraphie jaina." Though not the work of a specialist, yet LUDERS' "List of Brähmi Inscriptions from the earliest time till about 400 A D. with the exception of those of Aśoka" is valuable thanks to innumerable inscribed allusions to the Order of Jain laymen and monks (EI 10, App. L.C. 1912.)
It seems to be a digression from our subject when we note that BUHLER in his academical lecture "Uber die indische Sekte der Jainas" (1887) was the first to call up the interest of
I LEUMANN, Übersicht uber die Avaśyaka-Literatur, aus dem Nachlass hrsg v Walther SCHUBRING, Hamburg 1934 Obituary by the same, ZDMG 87, P 69-75
2
Specimen of a literary-biographical Onomasticon by Dr Joh KLATT Leipzig 1892-His obituary by LEUMANN IA p. 23, 169