________________
Sahitya Satkāra
Book Review
Samavāyangasuttam A Jain Canonical Text (Text with English translation, variant reading, notes, appendices, Gäthä Index, Classified Index of Proper Names and Glossary of Technical Terms):- Translated and Edited by Dr. Ashok Kumar Singh, Published by Bhogilal Leharchand Institute of Indology, New Delhi, First Edition, 2012.
The 'Samavayanga-sutta' is the fourth in the series of the twelve most authentic and the erliest canonical text (angas) composed in the Ardhmägadhi Prakrit. It is usually dated the 5th to 4 c. BCE. 'Samavāya' means 'a group' 'an aggregate' or 'a cluster' of items, subjets or concept usually associated with each other through certain common characteristics. The text is named as such because it follows the pattern of enlisting the subjects and themes related to Jain doctrine in a group from following numerical order in ascending manner. i.e. starting with one and going upto 100 in a regular way and then beyond in a faster pace, upto one crore. These subjects are then dealt with in a detailed and substantial manner unfolding thier characteristics, a process during which importent psychological and ontological aspects of Jain doctrine as well its cosmological beliefs come to fore. The text is thus an invaluable source of deriving information on various aspects of Jain Philosophy and belief system.
It is the first ever English translation of the text embllished with critical and supplementary notes which is bieng issued for the sake of reaching a wider Jain and non Jain readership, especially researchers and scholars.
724
- Dr. Ruchi Rai
