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Jaina Community — A Social Survey
known when these will be edited and published in book forms. Only in Gujarātha there are fifty-six Grantha-Bhāndāras of Svetāmbara Jainas,278 and in the whole of India their number must be sufficiently large because practically every big Jaina temple possesses a Grantha Bhāndāra.279
Though the Jainas have carefully preserved such a vast amount of literature, yet it must be admitted that they failed in their ultimate purpose of preserving the manuscript in the sense that for a long time they neither allowed the people to see them nor they got them published. In fact in early years of this century the Jainas vehemently opposed to the printing of their sacred books, did not allow to bring the printed books in temples and the persons responsible for printing such books were boycotted.230 Slowly they changed their ideas and with a view to propagate and popularise their literature they started their own institutions at various Jaina centres. The institutions like the Central Jaina Publishing House at Arrah in Eihar, the Mānikachanda Digambara Jaina Granthamālā, Bombay, Sri Jaina Ātmānanda Sabhā and Sri Jaina Dharma Prasāraka Sabhā, Bhavanagar, Agamodaya Samiti, Surat, Devachanda Lālabhāi Pustakoddhāraka Fund, Surat, and the Jaina Siddhānta Prakāšini Samstha, Calcutta did a great pioneering work in editing and publishing the important Jaina books, Realising the value of this work from the point of spread of Jainism. a host of Jaina institutions like publishing houses and libraries were started all over India. No other community of twenty-six lacs population would have given donations for publishing its literature such as done by the Jaina community. In spite of this the net result is not satisfactory. The original enthusiasm dwindled and due to absence of persistent endeavour, the former progress is not maintained at all.291 At present a few institutions like Singhi Jaina Granthamālā, Bombay, the Bhāratiya Jñānapītha, Delhi,and the Parishada Publishing House, Delhi are doing some good work in the field but in general it can be said still much remains to be done in this direction. It is stated that the numerous unknown manuscripts are lying in Grantha-Bhāndāras and if they are not edited and published by Jaina scholars, they are likely to be lost for ever.282
Just as the work of publishing Jaina books is considered as
