Nandanvana

Author(s): N L Jain
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith

Page 12

(xi)
Like the natural forests, the creative litterateurs and literatureloving people have also their personal or community forests. They are the libraries, which we can be addressed as literary forests. The literature of different languages there is akin to literary mini forests. They have knowledge-promoting trees in the form of different subjects. All the literature worshippers and visitors are its birds. They are also called the temple of learning, which have large palatial buildings. The literary forests are established in them. The almiras of books of different subjects are the altars of these temples. Though there is no greenery, (of course, it surrounds them), but their internal variety is highly mind-pleasing, serving intellectual growth. These are the Nandana forests for literary and even common people, which expand the areas of learnings and knowledge with enlightenment throughout. They are beautiful, mind-pleasing and highly delighting for the jñāna-yogis. The historical and cultural past is preserved there. The presence of many civilizations and arts is originated here. There is also a world of future imagination. That is why, they are more important than the natural forests.
The middle Jaina universe indicates that Nandanavana is the second one somewhat at strata of higher level than the ground level. This 'Nandanavana' (Gladdening forest) is also a flower orchard of literary forests, at a somewhat academic level. It is quite vast. It has been arranged by Dr. N. L. Jain- the noted Jaina scholar and scientist. It has two mini gardens of Hindi and English, which have 24 subjecttrees, having about 195 branches (articles etc). It has a cluster of fifty books and booklets. The subject-trees include canons, religion, science, archeology, chemistry, travel, biography and autobiography etc. The books and booklets include original and translated books on Jainology along with a variety of subjects. The branches of articles have many categories. These have been presented separately in the appendices. It is only few important subjects (trees), books (clusters) and articles (branches) which have been selected for this multiform literary forest.
Both the gardens of this 'Nandanavana' have 44 branches (articles) under fourteen subject-trees. They have presented the past along with the future. I am confident that this 'Nandanavana' will prove helpful as re-creative and augmentative in the knowledge of the readers with all