Jains Today in World

Author(s): Pirre Paul AMIEL
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith

Page 98

Their Sacred Books and Other Writings: 65 Bharati", Jaipur; "Agama, Ahimsa Evam Prakrit Sansthan", Udaipur, "Jain Vishva Bharati", Ladnun; "Nahata's Library" Bikaner; "Mahavira Aradhana Kendra" Koba, Gandhinagar, and the "B. L. Institute of Indology" Delhi have collected numerous important Jain manuscripts, some very ancient, in order to preserve them. In the second half of the XIXth century, a systematic quest for these precious documents has permitted (especially under the leadership of Buhler and of his collaborators and successors) the creation of an important collection preserved at the "Bhandarkar Institute" of Poona (Pune) in Maharashtra. At that time, several copies of these texts were bought by the "Library of Berlin" at the initiative of Buhler and Albrecht Weber. Later, Ernst Leumann, Professor at the University of Strasbourg from 1884 to 1918, bought manuscripts for him and for the "Bibliotheque Nationale Universitaire "of Strasbourg" (B.N.U.S.) where they are preserved and where we had the good fortune to see them and to obtain photos of two of their splendid "illuminations" to illustrate our French translation of Bool Chand's book 'Lord Mahavira'. Other collections are in London, especially at the British library and at the "British Museum", where a methodical inventory has been made.
Books and reviews on Jainism, in German, French and above all in English, are also at the library of the "Musée des arts asiatiques "Guimet" in Paris where they may be consulted and investigated by students and searchers.
It also exists in India and abroad institutions to promote Jain education, like numerous "pathaśāla" and "gurukula". At a higher level, mention, for instance, the "Mahavira Jain Vidyalaya" in Mumbai, the "Parshwanath Vidyapeeth", Varanasi (formerly known as P. V. Research Institute), the "Jaina Vishva Bharati" in Ladnun and several chairs in Jainology in Chennai, Mysore, Varanasi, Ahmedabad, etc. In Europe, mention lectures on "Jain studies" at