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जैनविद्या एवं प्राकृत : अन्तरशास्त्रीय अध्ययन
as well as historians. 19 Candid description of trials and tribulations faced by the author till the age of fifty-five impresses a reader. The historians find in him a trustworthy testimony on the age in which he lived : for he makes no attempt to hide anything and also as an ordinary businessman, his autobiography throws light on contemporary business practices and hardships faced by the common inan. Even in Persian language there is hardly any contemporary autobiography which so graphically and in a matter-of-fact manner gives such an intimate glimpse in the social life of ordinary man.20
Another secular theme frequently touched upon by Jain authors relates to description of various uraban centres, intimately known to them.
Nahar Jatmal of Labore writes of his own city and describes it in detail. In fact, he depicts in his poem “Lahore Gazal” the life of an urban centre.21 It may be pointed that in Hindi this was the first occasion, when a city has been described in such minute detail on the basis of close personal knowledge. This genre became widely popular among other Jain authors : according to one estimate there are fifty poems dealing with cities and city-life based on personal observations and informations. 22 The growth of this particular branch of literature lay in the logic of Jain society and history.
As traders, the Jains were primarily urban-based and were familiar with almost all the important cities and urban centres in the Hindispeaking area. They could write on urban life with competence and authority : secondly, the urban roots of Jains had already resulted in a considerable body of literature on towns by them in the Sanskrit language. 23 The new writings in Hindi on the already familiar therne
19. For instance see, Dr. Ravindra Kumar Jain, Kavivar Banar siilas,
Varanasi, 1966, Nemichandra Shastri, II, 41-42 etc. 20. Dhirendra Varma and Brajeshwar Verma, op, cit., p. 479;
Kamta Prasad Jain, op. cit , pp. 110.115 and pp. 120-24 21. Ibid., p. 484 22. Ibid., p. 484 ; The city of Agra has been described by various
Jain writers. Mention may be made of Yasod harcarit. Kamta
Prasad Jain, op. cit., p. 127 23. For example, see Mahamahopadhya Meghavijaygani, Digvijay
mahakavya, Bombay, 1945, pp. 117-25 and also by the same author Devanand mahakavya, Bombay, 1937, pp. 61-64
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