Book Title: Shramanvidya Part 1
Author(s): Gokulchandra Jain
Publisher: Sampurnanand Sanskrut Vishvavidyalaya Varanasi

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Page 15
________________ 10 श्रमणविद्या by the very same work and the Jātakamālā of Aryasūra. As the text was handled by a traditional monk, the importance of restoration becomes more authentic. The Taccaviyāro of Vasunandi Suri, a Prakrit treatise dealing with the Jaina Philosophical concepts and code of conduct of a house-holder, has been edited from a single manuscript, and presented here for the first time. The text is divided into 11 chapters, each dealing with an independent topic of undisputable religio-philosophical importance. However the topics have inter-relation to each other while complete in itself. In the preface and in the Introduction good many details have been furnished. Attention has been drawn to some important points related to the restoration of ancient agpmas, which are lost, cronology of Acāryas and History of Jaina Church. Some areas for interdisciplinary research have been suggested. The Prakrit text is presented with the cross reference of other works in the foot notes, which are not only important for comparative study but also will help in due course the scholars undertaking the difficult task of accounting the traditional gahäsutta, which seems scattered in several ancient works, but lost as a wbole Āgama. The Lokottaradharmadane Buddhasya dvātrimsanmahäpuruşalak şanāni asityanuyan janāni ca edited and presented by Dr. N. H. Samtani with his Introduction, is a portion of a Buddhist Sanskrit text Lokottaradharmadānam. The manuscript was located by the editor in the Darbar Library, Kathmandu (Nepal). Thirty two special characteristics which make the Buddha a superman, is a matter of significant importance. The list and explanation are found in many other Buddhist texts both in Pali and Sanskrit. The variations in order, terminology and explanation are but natural. The similar sixteen or twenty special characteristics, which make Mahavira the Tirthankar, and can make any one a Tirthankara, are elaborately depicted in Prakrit, Sanskrit and Apabhramsa texts of the Jaina Tradition. However they denote spiritual evolution and not the external signs. Gradual spiritual evolution in every previous birth till he becomes a Tirthankara, closely resembles with the concept of a Bodhisattva. Dr. Samtani has drawn the attention to the sources in early Pali texts as well as the Māhāyana literature. A comparative and analytical study of the subject can be an independent research project of high importance particularly in the light of the concept of total development of human personality which is one of the original contribution of the Sramaņas. 50 qr-9 Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

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