Jinamanjari 1998 09 No 18

Author(s): Jinamanjari
Publisher: Canada Bramhi Jain Society Publication

Page 38

Jinamañjari, Volume 18, No.2, October 1998
A NOTE ON ABHIDAN RAJENDRA JAIN CANONICAL DICTIONARY
K.L. Banthia, Kanpur, India
Rajendrasuri, the eminent saint scholar who compiled the Jain canonical dictionary in Hindi, has compared the Agama, the sacred scripture of the Jainas, to kalpavraksa, which should be cared and watered through studies.
The teachings and preaching of the Tirthankaras which have come down through the ages were codified and categorised by the chief Ganndhara Gautama in sixth B.C.E., and later redacted. The metaphysical nature of Jain cosmology; life and its entanglement in the rebounds of rebirth; and its final liberation, being the focal point of life, find full of technical terms in the Agama, often expressed and employed distinctly and differently in a Jain meaning from that of the classical Hinduism or Buddhism.
The need therefore for a canonical encyclopaedic lexicon was found necessary by Ācārya Vijaya Rajendrasuri, in the early years of nineteenth century. He considered this kind of dictionary as essential tool for scientific and systematic study of metaphysics, ethics and logic contained in the Agama. It was also the period the westerners had embarked on Indology in general and the Jain scriptural material were lying hidden and decaying. Ācārya Rajendrasuri ceased this moment to revive and reestablish the study of Jaina texts and old Prākrit.
In pursuit of this mission, Suriji found out that a great number of invaluable Jaina Prakrit lexicons have disappeared, have become obsolete, or have assumed different meaning incorporated into other system. Thus he went on to the great task of preparing the Jaina canonical dictionary. He began the task in 1889 at the age of 63 and continuously carried on the work with great perseverance and stride for a total of 14 years. He completed the work in 1903 and titled it Abhidan Rajendra Kosh.
Abhidan Rajendra Kosh followed a methodical system with an alphabetical arrangement. Each word or term with their etymological derivations, grammatical descriptions along with Sanskrit equivalents, shades of various meanings in the context of connotations, allusions and
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