Jaina Art and Architecture Vol 03

Author(s): A Ghosh
Publisher: Bharatiya Gyanpith

Page 21

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CHAPTER 31
MINIATURE PAINTINGS
(On Pattas, Palm-leaf and Paper)
INTRODUCTION
IN THE FIRST FEW CENTURIES AFTER THE NIRVANA OF MAHAVIRA THE KNOWledge of the Jaina canon was preserved only in the memory of the Jaina monks and was transmitted orally from preceptor to disciple. But often famines and epidemics claimed the lives of these learned men and with their death some knowledge of the religious doctrine was irretrievably lost. In course of time Jaina theological teaching began to suffer from irreparable gaps in its continuity as well as many aberrations from the original text. Recognizing these inherent dangers in the system of oral transmission, and fearing that unless some remedial steps were taken the holy word would disappear forever, the Jaina community made attempts in the direction of saving the sacred lore. A conference of monks was held at Pätaliputra, where the canonical literature was systematically compiled and put into written form. Later, in the fifth century, according to the Svetämbara tradition, a council of monks assembled at Valabhi in Gujarat and agreed that all religious texts be committed to writing. Apart from these conferences, individuals, too, strove to translate the oral tradition into a written one. Two Digambara monks-each independently of the other -in the early years of the Christian era collected the floating body of religious knowledge and reduced it to writing."
Curiously enough, despite the efforts of the Jaina monks to transcribe their religious texts no Jaina manuscript written earlier than the tenth century is known to exist. What could have been the cause of this hiatus between the earnest resolves of the Jainas to write their texts and the actual appearance of the written scriptures? Possibly, the Jainas, in spite of their sincerity of purpose, were not fully able to implement their decision as enthusiastically as they had made it. Besides, it is more than likely that the early manuscripts have
Moti Chandra, Jain Miniature Paintings from Western India, Ahmedabad, 1949, pp. 2-3. * Kasliwal, Jain Grantha Bhandaras in Rajasthan, Jaipur, 1967. p. 2.
H. Jain in his Introduction to Satkhondägima, Amaravati, 1947.
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