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INTRODUCTION
The Jaina literature
Here, let it be said at the very outset, is not the place to furnish the reader with a detailed exposition of this important subject- it being one that demands considerable space. What therefore follows, as the theme suggests, is only a brief treatment of it and will merely serve as an introduction to those who are interested in the Jaina literature. To begin with, the Jaina literature is very extensive, for, it consists not only of books forming the Siddhanta or the sacred literature but also of regular cart-loads of Sanskrit and Prakrita commentaries on the sacred lore. It is roughly estimated that there are five lacs of Granthas of the sacred literature. There were originally two kinds of sacred books, the 14 Purvas and the 11 Angas. All the Purvas except one had been gradually lost by the time the canon was written down in books under Devardhigani in 980 after the Nirvana of Lord Mahavira. Before that time the sacred texts were handed down without embodying them in written books. Some of these works are in prose, some in poetry and some in mixed prose and poetry and therein, various dogmatic questions are exhaustively and systematically treated. Besides the sacred literature and glosses and commentaries belonging to it, there are separate works both in Sanskrit and Prakrita, in close material agreement with the
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