Jain Journal 1970 07

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 10

JULY, 1970
of Sankara, Vasudhārā-dhārani still thrives in the abode of the Svetambara monks on the West Coast. The full text is provided. Gustav Roth has written a learned paper on the Prakrit word 'tai' (tyāgi in Sanskrit) which stands for a frenouncer'. The word however does not find place in the epithets of the Jaina Tirthankaras and wherever in later Jaina literature it has been used, it stands for a saint like that'. Its use is thus more recent, and its interpretation as 'a saviour' by savants like Atmaramji is not strictly speaking correct. The word smacks of the cult of bhakti (devotion) and has been popular only with such Jainas as uphold the bhakti cult. Nagin J. Shah's 'Nature of Time' is a comparative study starting with the western viewpoint and ending with the Jaina, the Hindu and the Buddhist coming in between. The author rejects the claim of 'Time as an independent substance', as claimed by the Jainas, and prefers to call it the modes of five substances'. Cailette Caillat has made a scholarly study of the religious prāyaścittas (atonement) mostly restricting the investigation to the Svetambaras oldest doctrine. The reviewer would prefer to call them 'confe as frequent as possible, in vogue in the holy order, followed by some danda (punishment) prescribed by the senior (not necessarily Acarya). Whatever its spiritual value, it has inculcated a habit of submission and perpetuated discipline in the order. The nature of punishment varies according to the intensity of the lapse, from the prescription of some physical discipline to demotion in rank, even expulsion from the order in extreme case. Jainism in the days of Mahavira had a living contact with the western fringe of Bengal, though the reception accorded to the last Tirthankara was not always palatable. The story has been recountered by historian R. C. Majumdar on the basis of Jaina texts. He is of opinion that Jainism declined in Bengal after the 7th century A.D. though on the western fringe there are still some local people, the Saraks, for instance, who are professedly Jaina (Italics provided by reviewer). R. C. Sharma has written on the 'Jaina Sculptures of the Gupta age in the state Museum of Lucknow', B. N. Puri on 'Jainism in Mathura in the Early Centuries of the Christian Era’, and Ambalal P. Shah on 'Some Inscriptions and Images on Mount Satrunjaya'. The Kuvalayamālā of Uddyotana Suri is an important Prakrit campu which was critically edited by A. N. Upadhye and published by the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in 1959. The work was taken note of as early as 1909 and during these fifty years a number of scholars have worked on it. A. N. Upadhye has written a review article on their work. Jayantabhatta's Agamadambara, a four-act play written in the 9th century A.D. throws light on the practical religious life of various sects in vogue’ at that time in Kashmir. The work is reviewed by Anantalal Thakur. On the basis of a parallelism between the ninth chapter of the Uttarā