________________
FEATURES
SCHOLARSHIP IN DECLINE
Paul Dundas highlights the need for Jains to revive
the study of Jain philosophy and culture
THE STATE OF JAIN SCHOLARSHIP WITHIN INDIA AT PRESENT may not be massive in numbers but they represent a is slightly disappointing. There have been some very significant improvement on the situation prevailing twenty
great figures, like Pandit Dalsukh Malvania who died or so years back. Unfortunately, as mentioned before, it is quite recently. He was a titanic scholar but unfortunately there not always easy for them to find reliable guides and mentors is no obvious successor to him. While Jainism is being taught within the Jain community when they visit India to carry out in certain institutes and universities, it is not quite so easy to research. Equivalents of the prominent pandits like identify a central figure, an intellectual focus to whom Sukhlalji, Malvania and Bechardas, to cite the obvious westerners could go to study under. Muni Jambuvijaya is an Shvetambara names who emerged from the pathshala obvious example but he is getting old. He unfortunately is not system set up by the community at the beginning of the training any successors. It is not outwardly clear to me what is century to train lay scholars, are no longer available. currently going on in the monastic community. There are quite The drop of the level in scholarship on Jainism by Jains is a few impressive individuals but they do not have the same partly connected to the uses to which money is being put in intellectual renown as some of the great
India in the Jain community. Broadly figures of that time, like Muni
speaking, building a temple is deemed Jambuvijaya or Jinavijaya.
"Jains need to be
much more meritorious than endowIn Madras and in Mysore in the south
ing some kind of an educational Jain scholarship does not seem to be reminded of the way in institute. It also reflects the general adequately funded. Students who take
situation in India where Prakrit and Jainology are studying it only to get into which intellectual prowess
Sanskrit are not so widely taught as university, to get a seat. In the north
they used to be. It is not quite so easy there are places where it is very strong,
to pick up the necessary linguistic or like Benares or Ahmedabad. For an
intellectual skills as it had been in the outsider it is not entirely clear whom to
past. One also gets the impression that approach if they want somebody to guide
the role of the monk has changed a bit. them in research. Say, if you are a
community.”
He is not really required to be the western or an American scholar who
intellectual exemplar that he might wants to do some work on Jainism in India, who would you have been in the past. Of necessity the Jain monks of old be sent to, where would you go? It is a bit of a problem tended to value scholarship among the most prominent of especially because Jain studies are undergoing a revival his skills, but today it might be said that genuine scholarly amongst western academics. In Britain and America more and attainments are possibly less valued than the personal more people are taking an interest in Jain scholarship and charisma and skills in oratory, particularly in terms of working on it. Of course there are also some very good persuading lay people to build temples. While there are still scholars in Europe. We have to mention here Nalini Balbir, an monks who take an interest in intellectual matters, very few extraordinarily gifted person teaching in Paris, who has done a appear to have the potential to be ranked with Punyavijaya most remarkable work on Jainism. A particular cause for or Jinavijaya. optimism is the young scholars and postgraduates in the west I suspect that the Jain community feels that money in the who are now starting to take an interest in Jain studies. They past went to places like the L.D. Institute in Ahmedabad and
can bring prestige and of
self-esteem to the
22
Jain Spirit. June - August 2001
in Education International 2010_03
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