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Amber and Jaipur and their interest in the rich cultural heritage of Indian literature with the materials provided by this collection of Mss. and other sources. We expect more of such catalogues very ably prepared by an eminent scholar Shri Bahura.
The Canonical Niktepa: Studies in Jaina Dialectics by Bansidhar Bhatt, Pub. Indologia Berolinensis, Band 5, E. J. Brill, Leiden, 1978, pp. 164, price not mentioned,
D. D. Malvania
Dr. Bhatt is to be congratulated for his extensive study of the Jaina Canons for his PhD. thesis The Canonical Niksepa, Subtitled Studies In Jaina Dialectics. Dr. Bhatt is right in distinguishing the actual method of Nikepas found in commentaries from the canonical Nikṣepas, and so he has given the sub-title- studies in Jaina Dialectics. The word Niksepa is a later innovation and the method also is a speciality of the Jainas. A word sometimes has many meanings. To classify these meanings is the purpose of Niksepa. In order to specify the relevant meaning of a certain word occuring in the canon the commentators specially of the Niryuktitype of the Jaina commentaries developed this Nikṣepa method. But in the canonical texts there is no problem of ascertaining the meaning of the word itself. So the authors have devised the various aspect to explain the particular category such as Loka, Pudgala etc. There is no doubt that some common words are there in the Nikṣepa method of commentaries and various aspects for explanation of a particular category in the canonical texts, such as dravya, kşetra, bhava etc. But we must be careful in explaining these words in the context of the Nikṣepa and of the various aspects of the canonical texts. Take for example the word dravya. Though the same word is used in both the contexts, the shades of the meanings at both the places is quite different. This is the case with the word bhava also. With reference to Nikṣepa, bhava denotes the nature of actual category different from other meaning of the same word. But in the canonical texts it generally denotes the quality or modifications of a particular category. The author Dr. Bhatt is conscious of this fact and so he has rightly given the subtitle to his thesis.
Dr. Bhatt has collected almost all the material found in canons which go to establish the nature of a particular category wherever the made of various aspects or determinants such as dravya, kşetra, kāla, bhāva, etc. He is not satisfied with the collection and so he has classified and analysed the material in a scientific manner. This is the first attempt of its kind and the scholars interested in Indological research, especially the Jaino
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