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lived in oral tradition. The result has been the sort of fate that has overtaken them. Now that the vast treasure of this underground material is being unearthed and brought to light, it will give satisfaction to all concerned.
JAIN JOURNAL
Influential Acaryas in Jaina Religion, (in Hindi) by Sadhvi Sanghamitra, published by Jain Visva Bharati, Ladnun, Rajasthan, 1979, pp. XX+432. Price Rs. 25.00.
Sadhvi Sanghamitra deserves congratulation for having accomplished a highly laborious job she assigned herself on the occasion of the 25th Centennial of Bhagavan Mahavira which was observed in 1975. In fact, this is one of the 25 items which the Terapanth Sangh assigned for its learned monks and nuns to work out to mark the occasion. The reviewer has no hesitation to say that Sadhviji has performed her assignment with care and competence.
Gleaning from sundry sources, she has presented the life-sketch of 37 Acaryas of the Agamic period, of 55 Acaryas in the Growth period and of 28 Acaryas of the New period, according to her classification. In doing so, she has worked with objectivity, without letting her work being tinged by the views of innumerable denominations called gaṇas, gachhas, kulas, sakhās into which Jainism after Mahavira got divided. This makes her production pleasant since we meet together so many illustrious persons who have given a glorious name to Jainism on the pages of History.
Some of these names, particularly of the Agamic period and for some time the period immediately following, are known to the readers of the Kalpa Sutra which has a chapter entitled "Theravali', but there they are mere names and do not satisfy one who wants to know more about them or their achievements. Even such a celebrity like Acarya Bhadrabahu who happens to be its illustrious author, finds a scant mention. Now, in the work of Sadhviji, we have a dependable information about the whole lot, and even though not comparable in strict sense, her work reminds one of Acarya Hemacandra's Trişaşṭisalākā-puruşa-caritra.
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