Jain Journal 2002 07

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

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Jain Journal : Vol. XXXVII, No. 1 July 2002 report about the outcome of whatever studies carried out by him upto that time.
Then it is observed by some scholars, on the strength of the knowledge of the Jain trends in South India, such as, cultivating the regional language for their preaching and teaching and then producing literary works, that there could have been some literary works in the language of the Kerala region by the early Jaina teachers, who then had spread and settled in different parts of South India. But in those early days the language in that region, was 'Sendami! (Pure or old Tamil). It was between C. 11th and 12th centuries A.D. that the ‘Mani Prawāla' type of literary language (mixture of Tamil and Sanskrit) came into practice, and then by C. 13th century, Malayalam set in vogue and continuted till today. So the possible existence of Jain literature in the early days in the Kerala region, could be in 'Sendamil and it could have been merged with Tamil in general then current in Tamil Nadu. Karnataka
When we come to the Karnataka region, we find that from 300 B.C. to 400 A.D. Jainism had played a significant role in enriching the cultural life of the people there in the various fields – religions, Social, Political, Linguistic, Literary, artistic, architectural etc.
The 12000 monks and teachers who had settled in the new colony near Kalbappu, the modern Shravanabelogala, were a Prakrit speaking community and they could not begin their religious preaching and teaching work there unless they picked up the local Kannada language. They must have also kept the ideal example of their Prophet Mahāvira, who taught the people in the Ardhamāgadhi language - the regional language of the area of his activities, as the Samavāyānga Sūtra clearly tells us : भगवं च अद्धमोगदीए भासाए धम्म आइक्खइ (The Reversed one taught in the Ardhamagadhi Language). So they too decided to do so, by first learning Kannada. In such attempt they cultivated this language by adding to it new words of religious and philosophical concept by borrowing from Prakrit and effecting certain sound-charges so as to suit the nature of Kannada language for the formation of words such as dharma, Samana, Kanti, gudda, hottige, lacchi, patti etc. These very words came to be known later as tadbhavaas (born of