International Jain Conference 1985 3rd Conference

Author(s): Satish Jain, Kamalchand Sogani
Publisher: Ahimsa International

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preserved to us numerous Indian tales that otherwise would have been lost. Kavyas and Mahakavyas, too, of renowned merit have been composed by Jaina poets. Lyrical and didactic poetry also are well represented in all literature of the Jainas. Apart from these, most valuable contributions have been made by the Jainas to the Indian scientific and technical literature on various subjects like Logic, Philosophy, Poetics, Grammar, Lexicography, Astronomy, Astrology, Geography, Mathematics and Medicine. The Jaina authors have paid special attention to the Arthashastra (or Politics) which is considered to be worldly science par excellence. Thus there is hardly any branch of science that has not been ably treated by Jaina writers.
The literature of the Jainas is also very important from the point of view of the history of Indian languages; for the Jaina authors always took care that their writings were accessible to considerable masses of people. Hence the canonical writings and the earliest commentaries are written in Prakrita dialects and at a later period Sanskrita and various modern Indian languages were used by the Jaina authors. It is not an exaggeration when Wilson says that “Every province of Hindustan can produce Jaina composition, either in Sanskrit or its vernacular medium." It is quite evident that the Jainas have enriched various regional languages and especially Hindi, Gujarati, Kannada, Tamila, and Telugu. Regarding the Jaina contribution to Kannada literature, the great Kannada scholar R. Narasinhacharya has remarked as follows: "The earliest cultivators of the language were Jainas. The oldest works of any extent and value that have come down to us are all from the pen of the Jainas. The period of Jaina predominance in the literary field may justly be called the Augustan Age of Kannada literature." As the Jainas have produced their vast literature in these languages from very ancient times, the Jainas have certainly played a very important part in the development of the different languages of India. The medium of sacred writings and preachings of the Brahmins has all along been Sanskrita and of the Bauddhas' Pali. But the Jainas alone utilized the prevailing languages of the different places, besides Sanskrita, Prakrita and Apabhransha, for their religious propaganda as well as for the preservation of knowledge. The Jainas thus occupy an important position in the history of the literature and civilization of India.
Arts and Architecture :
Along with literature the Jainas have always taken their due share in the development of the arts in the country. The Jainas have contributed their mite to enhance the glory of India in several branches of art and architecture. Compared with their number, their contribution appears to be imposing. It must be remembered that Jainism did not create a special architecture of its own, for wherever the Jainas went they adopted the local building tradition. While in Northern India they followed the Vaishnava cult in building, in Southern India they adhered to the Dravidian type. Even though the Jainas have not evolved
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