Jain Journal 1970 07

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

Page 11

JAIN JOURNAL
dhyayana Sutra and the well-known story of Janaka Videhin in the Mahābhārata, J.P. Thaker has questioned the genuineness of at least three ślokas (34-36) in that chapter of the Jaina Sutra which it is for the scholars to resolve. S. N. Ghosal writes on the Non-inflected Genitive in Apabhramsa' on the basis of Hemacandra's observation in his Prakrit Grammar as examined by a number of western scholars. M. L. Nigam has written on the 'Glimpses of Jainism through Archaeology in UttarPradesh'. J. C. Sikdar has made 'A brief Survey of Phonetics and mar as found in the Bhagavati Sutra'. Yogendra Misra seeks to establish that the Sindhudesa of Jaina literature is Tirabhukti in north Bihar. Not only Sindhudesa but a good many places of Jaina interest including the sacred Pava in Bihar will change their location on proper investigation. Further research in Jaina traditional geography is essential. Ramesh N. Jain has collected the Jaina and non-Jaina versions of the two popular tale of Candana-Malayagiri from Prakrit and other early literary sources'. The spiritual purpose behind this popular story has been to describe the calamities that befall a man's life on account of his own past deeds and to indicate that these can be done by implicit faith in the Jaina doctrines. Satya Ranjan Banerjee's paper entitled 'Fragments of the earliest Eastern Prakrit Grammarians (Sakalya, Mandavya, Kohala and Kapila' was read at the All India Oriental Conference in 1960. There are three articles on archaeology, of which the most exhaustive and illustrated one is due to M.A. Dhaky on 'Some Early Jaina Temples in Western India'. Its coverage includes the Mahavira Temple at Ossia, the same at Varman, at Ghanerav and at Sewadi, Parsvanath Temple at Pali and at Sadri, Adinath Temple at Nadlai and Jaina Temples at Nadol, all erected between the eighth and early eleventh century in Rajasthan. The author's conclusion is worth quoting : "The survey ... reveals a curious fact that a large majority of them were sacred to Jina Mahavira. .......(Tradition was that) Mahavira Himself had visited Marubhumi or Western Rajasthan ... There is, albeit, no support to this tradition in Jaina Agama texts. We are, today, indebted to this tradition, parenthetically, for the fillip it gave to the intensive art and architectural activities by the Jainas in Western India.” Equally learned and illustrated is the last article entitled 'New Documents of Jaina Paintings' running over 50 pages by Moti Chandra and Umakant P: Shah. The coverage is for Western India and the formative period of this art was the first half of the 15th century. The authors state that "the manuscript material so far available shows that there was a definite attempt to improve the quality of the drawing and colours and that a certain degree of latitude was allowed to the painters to express their ideas in their own way.” In course of time this developed into a new movement in painting which spread far in northern India and influenced