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Contribution of Śramaņas to the Indian Tradition of Exegetical Literature
Dr. Rajesh Ranjan This articles deals exhaustively and systematically in historical perspective with the origin and evolution of enormous exegetical literature, available on the scriptures, of Jaina and Buddhist tradition, written in Ardhamāgadhi and Pali. The author has given the salient features of these commentaries, peroid of their writing along with their languages. The author has quoted the ancient as well as modern authorities to substantiate his view. He has also given as illustrations the names of the texts on which a particular type of commentary has been written. -Editor What is known as Indian Culture today is the sum total of the contributions made towards the enrichment and betterment of each and every sphere of life by the two ancient Indian traditions of recluses i.e. Śramaņas and Brāhamaņas. Giving much credit to one and ignoring the contributions of the other is unfair and unjust. Whether it be the field of Art and Architecture, Language and Literature, Knowledge and Philosophy and so on and so forth, the contributions made by the Sramaņas are in no way less than the Brāhamaņas. However, keeping in mind the time and space at our disposal a humble attempt has been made to delineate and discuss the unique contribution of the Śramaņa tradition, Buddhism and Jainism occupying the foremost place there, towards the development of Indian tradition of exegetical literature in Pali, Prakrit, Apabhramśa and Sanskrit languages. Origin of Exegetical Literature
Origin of exegetical literature in Indian tradition is almost as old as the literature itself. It is, therefore, natural that the Brāhamaņic, the Jaina and the Buddhist religious literature possess enormous of exegetical literature for their respective canons in Sanskrit, Prakrit and Pali. The most popular and standard denominations such for
