Glory Of Jainism

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- 10 - different religion. The contri bu tions of Jaina schobrs in all spheres of literature are unique in the history of India. In Sanskrit, Prakrit and Ardha Magadhi, the Jainas possessed a rich treasure house in which thousands of manu script granthas are still preserved. The Jaina Acharyas travelled all over India on foot delivering sermons on Ahimsa and the unity of life. They mastered the different languages and scripts and created masterpieces in Indian literature. They moved among the people without any provincial prejudice preaching the gospel of non-violence and universal love. It was the Jaina Acharyas who had the complete command of Kannada and Tamil languages of Karnataka and Dravida, a last which could not be denied in the light of historical evidence. The Jaina Acharyas had produced precious literary works in these South Indian languages. Thus they have enriched and ekvated these languages to the highest pinnacle of literary glory. The la te Maharaja of Mysore has accepted the great contributions of Jainism in the development and enrichment of Karnataka culture. Pampa, Ranna, Punna, Nanchandra, Nemichandra and Guna varma were cele brated Jaina poets in Kann ada la nguage. The golden period in Kanna da language, literature and culture commenced from the advent of Jaina poets and authors in the literary world of Karnataka and Mysore. I had once the opportunity to meet one of the Jaina scholars of Karnataka.! He praised highly the Jaina poets and authors for their marvellous contributions in the enrichment of Karnataka literature and culture. He informed me that even today twenty different versions of the Ramayana composed by different Jaina authors could be available in the Karnataka language.