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History of Jainism with Special Reference to Mathurā
The literary activity of the Jainas has embraced an extremely wide field. Jaina authors have produced religious as well as secular literature. They have written numerous books on religion and philosophy.346 They also produced narrative literature in the form of kathas, kathākosas, epics, caritas,347 Purāņas,348 prabhandas and prasastis.349 They also wrote sociopolitical histories, historical biographies, paṭṭāvalis of the various Jaina ascetic congregations, commentaries on non-Jaina works, etc. 350 The Jainas also produced works on poetry in the form of kavyas, mahākāvyas and small poems 351 They also wrote on technical and scientific subjects like poetics, grammar, lexicography geography, astronomy, mathematics, medicine, politics, etc. 352
By producing literature in many Indian languages like Ardha-Magadhi, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, etc., Jainism has played an important role in the linguistic development of India. Prakrt languages owe a lot to Jainism. The Jainas produced rich literature in Apabhramsa,353 and most of the surviving literature in this language is the creation of Jaina authors.354 Apabhramsa is a language which is a link between the classical languages, i.e., Sanskrit and Prakṛt and the modern vernacular languages of India. Apabhramśa represents an important stage in the development of IndoAryan languages — a stage ‘in which the Prakrts die and out of them the bhāṣās or the vernaculars are born'.356 Many modern Indian languages like
346. JIR, pp. 152-3; AOIK, p. 292.
347.
348. JIR, p. 153; JSAI, pp. 22-5.
349. JSAI, pp. 18-19.
350.
Ibid., pp. 16-28.
351.
CA, pp. 313-17; JIR, p. 166.
352.
Ibid., pp. 317-24; Ibid., pp. 172-7; MJ, p. 266; JSAI, pp. 16ff.
353.
CUHI, I, pp. 222-3; Ibid., p. 151; JSAI, p. 13.
354.
JIR, p. 151.
355.
CUHI, I, p. 223.
356.
SFE, p. 351.
CA, pp. 291ff; JIR, pp. 153-60; JSAI, pp. 20-2.
