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RELIGION & CULTURE OF THE JAINS
The munificence of the wealthy section of the community, sometimes royal patronage also, have uniformly encouraged both monks and lay pundits in their literary pursuits in different parts of the country. The importance of scriptural knowledge in attaining liberation and the emphasis laid on śāstra-dāna (gift of books) have instilled an innate zeal in the Jaina community for the composition and preservation of literary works, both religious and secular, the latter, too, very often serving some religious purpose directly or indirectly. This ardour of śāstra-dāna has always permeated the hearts of pious Jainas so much that they took special interest in getting the manuscripts of books prepared in hundreds and thousands and distributed among the worthy, when there was no printing press.
Another happy result of this enthusiasm for the preservation and propagation of literature was that big śāstra-bhandāras (Jaina manuscript libraries ) grew up in numerous places all over the country, not a few of them stocking thousands of important volumes each, including some highly valuable and very rare ones.
The canonical and other early literature, mostly quasi-canonical in nature, of the Jainas is written in the Prakrit language, because the Tirtharkaras chose for the vehicle of 'thier preaching the common language of the masses. In the times of Lord Mahāvīra this lingua franca of the country was the ArdhaMāgadhī Prakrit, hence it was adopted for the Jaina scriptures, but their authors never attached a slavish sanctity to any particular speech. Preaching of religious principles in an instructive and entertaining form was thier chief aim, and language was just a menas to this end which would be defeated if it was intelligible only to a few.
Hence, according to the regions and the spirit of the age, the Jaina authors adopted various languages, dialects and styles for thier compositions, and the result has been unique. They have
