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viii
JAIN LAKSHNAVALI
even though hearing it, but to another She reveals Her form like a loving wife, finely robed to her husband'
उत त्वः पश्यन्न ददर्श वाचमत त्वः शृण्वन्न शृणोत्येनाम् । उत त्वस्मै तन्वं विसले जायेव पत्य उशती सुवासाः ॥
-Rgveda 10-171-4 The fact is that our understanding of a word or a sentence is always hindered by our prejudices and pre-concepts about a problem and the proper understanding of a word requires a mind free from all prejudices. This is why the ancient Indian philosophers believed that one who masters the reality of the word, attains the Supreme Reality-शब्दब्रह्मणि निष्णातः परं ब्रह्माधिगच्छति. If we look at the present work from this point of view, it is not merely a compilation work but a work of independent significance.
ri Balac andra Sastri, the editor of this Dictionary, has done his work in the spirit of a devotee of sabdabrahman. This is evident from his introduction running into 87 pages, where he has shown a keen interest in the history of words. The words may expand or contract their meanings by the passage of time. The definitions of words undergo changes as and when they are criticised by the opponent. Sri Sastri has critically examined the definitions of about 25 such words or word-pairs, where the definitions have undergone changes. He has shown a rare quality of non-sectarian approach even while dealing with such controversial words as acelaka (pp. 70-71).
Sri Sastri has also given a historical account of 102 works, which have been utilised in the preparation of the present work. This account is full of valuable information and is very helpful in making a historical study of the definitions, collected in the main body of the Dictionary. In this account, however, I feel that ancient texts like Acarangasūtra should have been placed before late works like Trilokaprajñpti. In fact, it is a sectarian problem. Digambara authors sometimes do not give due importance to the Svetambara agamas, even if they are very old. Similarly the Svetambaras sometimes overlook such eminent and old authors as Kundakundacarya. The Acarangasūtra, to the best of my knowledge, has been generally placed in the first part of the 3rd Century B.C. and as such should have been dealt with together with the Digambara agamas.
I am, however, glad to observe that Sri Balacandra Śastrī is perhaps the first to take an initiative in preparing a Dictionary of the Technical Terms of Jainism, in which the works of both the sects of the Jainas have been given equal importance. The earliar two works of the similar nature, Abhidhanarajendrakosa and Jainendrasiddhantakoşa (Vol. I), though excellent in their own ways, are superseded by the present work in the sense that the former is primarily based only on the
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