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176
The Unknown Pilgrims
In the documents of another sākhă of the same gaña, the Nāgauraśākhã, one finds that: in 1579 a copy of the Dhanyakumāracaritra was presented to Āryikā Karmai by Lúna, a disciple of Bhattāraka Lakşmicandra. 112
d) The Jesalamera manuscripts
In the very heart of the great desert, at Jesalamera, a small fortresstown, are to be found eight Jaina temples nestling among buildings containing exquisite sculptures of an extraordinary artistry. These temples and the upăśrayas possessed certain grantha-bhandāras, also sometimes termed jñāna-bhandaras or śástra-bhandāras, that is, collections of manuscripts. Jesalmera is certainly not the only place famous for its Jaina grantha-bhandaras, for there are a number of others in Rājasthāna, Gujarāta, Mahārāştra and in the South, but those of Jesalamera possess manuscripts of unparalleled quality and antiquity.113 The most important bhandara is the one which was established by the scholar Muni Jinabhadra Sūri in the XVth century and which bears his name.114 The collection preserved in it is the oldest one known among the Jainas up to date and contains manuscripts of works dating back to the Xlth and XIIth centuries; quite a number are written on palm-leaves and several adhere to different Indian philosophical systems.
112 Cf. K.C. Jain, 1963, p. 85. The Dhanyakumāracaritra is one of the works composed by the erudite Bhattáraka Sakalakirti of the XVth c.
113 The chief bhandāras of the Svetāmbaras are in Rājasthāna and Gujarāta, those of the Digambaras in Rājasthāna, Maharastra and Karņāțaka.
114 At the present time all the manuscripts are held in the bhandāra of the temple of Pārsvanatha; they belong to the Svetāmbaras. The bhandāra is housed in a basement which one enters through a small low door. The manuscripts are preserved in long aluminium boxes within steel cupboards. The Ist catalogue, giving an incomplete list of the collection, was published at the beginning of this century. During the last years, Muni Punyavijaya has prepared and had printed the various collections of Jesalamera manuscripts. This new catalogue contains ref. to 2697 texts, 438 of which are on palmleaves; cf. Jesalmer Coll. NC, Prastāvanā, pp. 28-30. All the ref. given in this section are taken from this new catalogue.
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