Sambodhi 1998 Vol 22

Author(s): Jitendra B Shah, N M Kansara
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 12

JAINA STUDIES IN EUROPE
Colette Caillat
At the beginning of his paper on “Buhler as a collector of mss", Ernst Leumann who, since 1884, was professor at the University of Strassburg', wrote “It is generally not known or scarcely noticed to what an extent the history of any science is dependent on the local distribution of its material" (Indian Antiquary 27, 1898, P 368-370 = Kleine Schriften (infra] p 294-296) As far as Jaina studies are concerned, this remark has proved up to this day for the fact that, thanks to the action of Buhler (sometimes helped by Jacobi) and of Albrecht Weber, the Berlin National Library had bought many Jaina manuscripts already during the years 1870-1888, and the fact that, later, E Leumann further collected new Jaina (especially Digambara) manuscripts for the Strassburg library, explain why, in Europe, research on Jainism has for many years been philologically oriented, has concerned especially canonical, "procanonical” and postcanonical texts, has been conducted specially in Germany or in association with German scholars, and has often been written not in English, but in German (or in French, Italian) But, due to the considerable development of the science of religion and of anthropology, perhaps also due to the important influx of Jains first into UK, later into North America, it appears that, since two or three decades, several British scholars, after 1970/75, have been attracted to the study of the Jains and the Jaina community on the other hand it should be acknowledged that some books concerning Jaina art have also been published, viz Klaus Bruhn, The Jina-images of Deogarh (Leiden 1969), to which can be added La cosmologie jaina, présentation de Colette Caillat, d'aprés les documents recueillis par Ravi Kumar (Paris 1981), an English rendering of the latter is due to K R Norman, The Jaina cosmology (Basel, Pans, New Delhi 1981) Further, after Los Angeles - New Orleans, the Victoria and Albert Museum (London) arranged a remarkable presentation of the peaceful Liberators Jaina art from India (23 November 1995 - 18 February 1996), as recorded in the Souvenir issue of Ahimsā, the quarterly magazine of The Institute of Jainology (Vol 5, 34, Sept -Dec 1995)
A conspectus of some of the fundamental books and of more recent studies on Jainism can be found in the lists published by Klaus Bruhn and Colette Caillat in Jain studies in honour of Jozef Deleu Edited by Rudy Smet and Kenji