Book Title: Jain Journal 1993 01
Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

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Page 27
________________ 136 JAIN JOURNAL becomes a citizen-scholar, Jains, like the Hindus, have no single text to rely upon as the source of information about Jainism. Believing as they are in the principles of anekāntavāda and sāyādvāda, the ordinary Jain is left to himself to find his path of purification and liberation. Hence, a great ignorance about Jaina doctrines remains among the Jains. What does remain is folk-knowledge about Jainism. The role of the wandering monks and pups is an important one. Their ways are steeped in history and traditions. However, Jains must find other ways to improve Jaina knowledge among the nonJains and Jains, especially among the second generation Jains born and bred in the western nations. One path has already been noted above, viz. the development of citizen-scholars among the Jains which some Jaina organizations have already begun to do. But attention must be directed in another area. Jains are usually generous people. Most Jains would willingly give money for the building of temples, upăsarās or centers in the names of their favourite guru, muni or ācārya who can always persuade the faithful to give funds for such enterprises. We must out grow this tradition in India. (Overseas Jain organizations have not remained immune from this tendency either.) 8. Jain Dharam (popularly and erroneously called Jainism, a term which I am forced to use in this essay due to its popularity) has often been confused with and aligned with Buddh Dharam (Buddhism) by early European scholars because of many similarities between the two religions. Perhaps that's why many scholars of Jaina studies are still attached to centres or departments of Buddhist studies. There is, of course, a very rational reason for this. Any scholar of Jaina or Buddhist studies has to be a master of Pali, Prakrit and Ardha-Magadai, and because early Buddhist literature contains a great deal of information about early Jainism. 9. Though information about Jainism has been available to English-speaking people since the beginning of the nineteenth century through the works of Colin Mackenzie, Dr. F. Buchannan (1807), J. Stevenson (1848), Colebrook (1872), etc., Jainism did not attract Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

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