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BOOK REVIEW
History of Jainism in Bihar by Dr. Binod Kumar Tiwary. The Academic Press, Patel Nagar, Gurgaon-122001 First Edition-1996. Pages 214+ 16. Rs. 300.00.
The Academic Press, Patel Nagar, Gurgaon (Haryana) is doing good service and its publications of the Bibliographies on Buddhism, Christainity, Hinduism and Muslims in India are worth mention. It has published two publications on Jainism also i.e. Life of Mahāvīra and The Jaina way of life. A select Bibliography on Jainism is also forth coming, mean while the Press had published the Ph.D. thesis of Dr. B. K. Tiwary.
This thesis does not contain the philosophical aspects of Jainism but it seems a good narration of the story of Jaina religion in Bihar during the period under its reveiw. Dr Tiwary comes from Bihar and he is working on the history of Jainism in Bihar. He had tried to deal with the rise of Jainism in Bihar and also its existence and the causes for its decline in the region.
During the time of Mahāvīra, Magadba corresponded roughly with the present areas of Patna, Gaya, Nalanda, Nawadah, Aurangabad and Jehanabad districts of the Bihar state. Under Bimbisāra and Ajatasatru, it rose to such an eminence that even centuries later and till the famous Asoka's Kalinga war, tho bistory of North India is practically the history of Magadh.
This region has served as the cradle of Jainism, as most of the Jaina Tirtharkaras were connected to this portion of India, but today the Jainas constitute a small community of the population of Bihar. The main concentration of Jainas in this state is in urban areas and they are mostly engaged in the trade business. The reasons for the decrease in their number is not known. Practically the hisiory of Jainism in this area is still in dark.
Traditional beliefs give abundant testimony to show appreciation of services that Jainism rendered to history and the way of life in Bibar but the authors like C. J. Shah (Jainism in North India, 1932), G. C. Raychaudhary (Jainism in Bihar, 1956), A. K Chatterjee (A Comprehansive History of Jainism, 1978), Upendra Thakur (Studies in Jainism & Buddhism in Mithila. 1964), and K. C. Jain (Lord Mahāvīra
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