________________
JULY, 1982
will be of immense use for those who intend to know about Jainism from a single text within a short time.
2. The Kalpa Sutra by Bhadrabahu Svami, sixth in the line from Mahavira, is the earliest account of the life of Tirthankaras, especially the 24th, 23rd, 22nd and the 1st. The present work should, in all fitness, occupy a unique position. The Kalpa Sutra belongs to that group of Agamic texts which are called the Cheda Sutras, whose principal theme is rules about the personal behaviour and organisational discipline to be observed by the monks. This Sutra acquires special reverence because of its reference to the Tirthankaras, and with certain sects, it is a compulsory reading during the monsoons when the monks cease their wanderings.
The Kalpa Sutra has been the most popular among the Jaina texts which has attracted the scholars' attention. The earliest English version of this text is by Hermann Jacobi in the Sacred Books of the East Series edited by Max Muller. In recent years, quite a few English translations have appeared by lesser writers. The authenticity of the present translation is based on the fact that, like his other works, the translation strictly follows the original text, after critically examining it with reference to Jacobi's version in English on the one hand, and Basanta Kumar Chattopadhyaya's version in Bengali, on the other.
3-5. The Bhagavatt Sutra of the Jainas very rarely used by the laity and used restrictively and sparingly even by the senior Jaina monks, is the biggest single work, almost as big as the rest of the Jaina canonical texts, that the Jaina scholarship ever produced. So far the text in Ardhamagadhi, with some Hindi versions, complete or abridged, was beyond the reach of many scholars. Prof. Lalwani has done a commendable job by taking on hand the translation of this vast work.
Despite its enormous importance, if the Bhagavatt Sutra has never attracted scholars and publishers in the past, it was not only due to its vastness in size which made the work enormously laborious, but also because of the vast range in which are focussed so many diverse themes. The work, apart from containing religion and philosophy of a high order, has also a lot of myths and innumerable secular themes providing information on the political, social and economic conditions of contemporary society, education, polity, economy, different systems of religion, cosmology, geography, even natural sciences. The whole work consists of 41 fatakas each containing 10 uddesakas, of diverse sizes, ranging from half a page till a complete book. The usual mode of presentation
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
