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prehensive, systematic, authentic or of the requisite standard, wherefor much has yet to be done.
In the present context, we are chiefly concerned with the glossaries or the dictionaries of technical terms. Every science, art, skill, profession or department of knowledge possesses its own set of technical terms which have a significance peculiar to that subject, different from their ordinary dictionary meanings or common usages. Naturally, therefore, a well-developed and comprehensive religious, cultural and philosophical system with a long standing tradition as Jainism is, possesses numerous technical terms, related to its metaphysics, ontology, cosmology, mythology, epistemology, psychology, philosophy, diolectics, dogmatics, ethics and ritual. One not knowing the real import of such a term with reference to the context will find great difficulty in grasping the meaning of the text and is likely to misunderstand and misinterpret it.
There are certain terms which are exclusively used in the Jaina system, some others are such as are common to both, the Jaina and non-Jaina systems, but are used in the Jaina in an altogether different sense, or even if the sense is the same or similar, the philosophical concept implied in the term differs materially, and there are also terms which are current in common usage but have been adopted in Jainism and given a peculiar meaning. Moreover, there are certain terms, each conveying more than one sense which differ from context to context, in Jainism itself; and cases are not wanting when the definitions of the same term, given by several ancient writers, differ from one another. Many a time this helps in tracing the development in the meaning of a term and consequently in the concept, philosophical or otherwise, implied by that term. Then there are also some terms the definitions of which have a wider import and are interesting as well as valuable for the cultural, social, economic and even political history of ancient India. Hence the need for compilation of glossaries containing independent definitions and precise explanations of the words and expressions used in the Jaina system with technical and specialised meaning has been imperative.
Happily, it was early realised by the pioneers of the Jaina renaissance in the modern age. As early as 1909, Pt. Gopaldas Baraiya published his glossary, the Jain Siddhanta Praveshika, in 1908 J.L. Jaini brought out his Jaina Gem Dictionary and in 1925, Bihari Lal Chaitanya's Jain Shabda Maharnava, Part I, was published from Barabanki, the second part of which was compiled by Br. Sital Prasad and published from Surat in 1934. In the mean time, Vijaya Rajendra Suri's famous Abhidhana-Rajendra, in seven volumes, was published from Ratlam in 1913-34, the Ardhmagadhi Kosha of Ratanchandra Shatavadhani from Ajmer-Bombay in 1923-32 and the Paiya-sadda-mahannavo of Hargovindadas, T. Shah from Calcutta in 1928. The Alpa-parichita-saiddhantic-sabda-Kosha, Part I, of Anandsagar Suri came out from Surat in 1954 and the two excellent topical dictionaries, the Leshya Kosha and the Kriya-Kosha, by the joint efforts of Mohanlal Banthia and Srichand Chorariya from Calcutta, in 1966 and 1969 respectively. A Dictionary of Prakrit Proper Names, Part I (1970) and Part II (1972), has been published by the L.D. Institute of Indology, Ahmedabad, and the four volumes of Jinendra Varni's Jainendra Siddhanta Kosha, by the Bharatiya Jnanpith, New Delhi in 1970-73.
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