ISJS Jainism Study Notes E5 Vol 01

Author(s): International School for Jain Studies
Publisher: International School for Jain Studies

Page 330

logical works of Siddhasena and Devasena, ethical works of Vattakera and Haribhadra etc. Besides, there are numerous Caritras in Prakrit that describe the life of individual Tirthamkara such as Rşabha, Santinātha, Neminātha, Pārśva and Mahāvīra. Jainas own abundant narrative literature in Prakrit. All this shows that Jainas have to their credit voluminous Prakrit literature, but unfortunately the study of Prakrit language has practically disappeared from India. What will be its consequence is a matter of great concern for the custodians of Indian culture.
From what has been said above it may be rightly inferred that the Second Stage of Prakrit originating from Sanskrit, Mahāvīra used the First Stage of Prakrit of the pre-vedic times for his deliverances and Ganadharas prepared the Agamic literature from it. In contravention to this, it was considered by some scholars that the Prakrit of Mahāvīra's times is subservient to Pāṇini's Sanskrit. Consequently they made the learning of Prakrit through Sanskrit, a compulsory part of learning Prakrit. This made the whole thing cumbersome and unnatural, which resulted in the gradual disappearance of the learning of Prakrit language. The result is that happily Sanskrit is flourishing and surprisingly Prakrit is waning. At present Prakrit is understood through Sanskrit, which seems to me to be an anti-Mahāvīra attitude. This means that the Prakrit language, which is the representative of the common man's aspirations, is denied the respectful position in society at large. Its revival is very much important for making intelligible the cultural history of India. Without it India will be misunderstood and the increasing significance of the common man in the present day democracy will not find its basis in ancient history of India.
It is matter of great satisfaction that some scholars of the past decried the teaching of Prakrit through Sanskrit, but they could not find time to develop a detailed programme of teaching Prakrit independently of Sanskrit. It is to the credit of Apabhramsa Sāhitya Academy, Jaipur, Prakrit Bharati Academy, Jaipur and to the University Department of Jainology and Prakrit, Udaipur for starting teaching Prakrit independently of Sanskrit. Deriving inspiration from the Prakrit scholars of wide repute and recognition, Apabhramsa Sāhitya Academy has made a humble effort in preparing the required system of teaching Prakrit and Apabhramśa through the National language, Hindi. Some of the Students and teachers of the Universities are studying the Prakrit and Apabhramśa language through correspondence course developed by the Apabhramsa Sāhitya Academy, Jaipur. It is my wish that students who have come here to study Jainism will make use of this method for learning the Prakrit language. They may use their mother tongue to learn Prakrit for comprehending the Agamas. This will go a long way in understanding properly the contribution of Jaina Agamas in enriching world culture in general and Indian culture in particular.
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