Jaina Philosophy Historical Outline

Author(s): Narendra Nath Bhattacharya
Publisher: Munshiram Manoharlal Publisher's Pvt Ltd New Delhi

Page 48

Introduction
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Lakşmaņa, the Sañjamamañjarī of Mahesara Sūri, 2 etc.
From the fourteenth century onwards the Jain writers adopted regional languages instead of Prakrit and Apabhramśa. The use of Sanskrit was, however, continued. Kīrtirāja's Neminātha Mahākāvya, which narrates the life of Neminātha in 12 cantos, is one of the best specimens of the Sanskrit epic literature of the fifteenth century. Historical Kāvyas were also written by the Jains. Nayacandra's Hammira-kāvya: dealing with the heroic deeds of Cahamāna Hammira may be referred to in this connection. Somacaritragaņi's Guruguņaratnākara (1485)4 describing the life of Lakşmīsaragani of Tapāgaccha is a work of considerable importance for Gujarat history. Sarvānanda's Gagadūcarita5 is likewise a historical Kāvya in praise of a Jain layman who helped his countrymen during the Gujarat famine of 1256-57. Among the devotional poems of the Jains composed in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries may be mentioned Jinaprabhasūri's Caturvimsati-Jinastuti and several other hynms and Munisundarasüri's Jina-stotra-ratna-kośa, The Jains also undertook the patterns of the Dütakāvya literature to serve religious purpose. Merutunga's Meghadūta is an example of Jain Dūtakāvyas which describes the life of Neminātha in four cantos. In Sanskrit prose the Jain writers had written numerous stories to illustrate the tenets of their faith. The Campakaśreștikathānaka,6 Pālagopalakathānaka, Samyaktvakaumudi, etc., are Jain collections of didactic tales, purely propagandist in nature. The first two works were composed by Jinakirti. Somacandra, a pupil of Ratnasekhara of Tapāgaccha, composed in 1448 the Kathāmahodahi which is a collection of 126 Jain stories. Merutunga's Mahāpuruşacarita is a prose romance which gives an account of some Jain saints. The Jain writers also employed Campüs and Prabandhas for religious propaganda.
The emphasis on Prakrit and Apabhramsa proves that the Jain writers wanted to make their views accessible to the common people. This again accounts for the immense Jain contribution to the regional languages of India. In Tamil, the earliest Jain works are Tiruthakkathevar's Jīyakacintāmani and Konguvelir's Perunkathai. The works of
1Ed. P.D. Gune, ABORI, 1, pp. 157-166. Ed. Hargobindas and Bechardas, Bhavnagar, 1914. Ed. N.G. Kirtane, Bombay, 1879. *Ed. Muni Indravijaya, Benaras, 1911. Ed. Bühler in IS. Text and tr. J. Hartel, ZDMG, LXV, pp. 1-51, 425-47.