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BOOK REVIEW
SRI UTTARADHYAYANA SUTRAM: translated into Punjabi by Ravinder Kumar Jain: edited by Purshottam Das Jain: published by the 25th Mahavir Nirvan Satabdi Sanyoyika Samiti, Punjab, Ludhiana: Pages 414+45 Price Rs. 35.00.
Prakrit language has its own importance in the Indian literature as the mother of so many Indian languages. As it was spoken at that time in different parts scholars have assigned different names such as Pali, Ardha-Magadhi, Sauraseni, etc.
During the British rule, more heed was paid to the oriental study by the European scholars. At that time some important Indian texts were translated here and abroad, and Uttaradhyayana Sutra was one of them. It was translated into English for the first time from Prakrit by the famous German scholar Dr. H. Jacobi in 1894.
For last three or four years, a different type of literature is cropping about the preachings of Mahavira due to the 2500th Nirvana Samaroha of Sramana Bhagavan Mahavira. As is well-known the Punjabi language is not rich in Jaina literature. So the officiating committee has tried to atone for it by publishing five parts of Jaina stories in Punjabi, and the first Punjabi version of the life of Bhagavan Mahavira. The latter book was written by Sri Ravinder Kumar Jain. And now Sri Jain has translated such an important work as Uttaradhyayana Sutra. It is the first version in Punjabi of the Ardha-Magadhi Canon.
The Uttaradhyayana Sutra is held in great reverence as it contains the last sermon of Sramana Bhagavan Mahavira. Its antiquity can be established from commentaries written on it at different dates and its popularity from the parallel verses as quoted in Mahābhārata, Dhammapada, etc.
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