Wisdom in Jain Tradition

Author(s): Nalini Joshi
Publisher: Nalini Joshi

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Anekantavāda. Pramāna-mīmāmsă of Hemcandra, Syadvāda-mañjari of Mallisena and Jaina Tarkabhāșă of Yasovijaya are the well reputed texts. Tarkabhāṣā is written in Navya-nyāya-style. Jainas' contribution to Indian logic is really praiseworthy.
(ix) It is the fashion of first decade of the third millennium to beat the drums of Jaina Ayurveda, very loudly. When we go through the contents of the Jaina works on Ayurveda, we realize that Caraka, Suśruta and Vägbhata are still at the top. The Jaina author Ugräditya (11th 12th cen.) wrote a really remarkable book titled Kalyāņakāraka, strictly following the Jaina rules about food and medicine. The classification of diseases is new. Rest of the details can be found on p.231-232 of the above-mentioned book on Jaina Lāksaņika Sāhitya. One of the old manuscripts of the ayurvedic text Jatsundarīprayogamālā is preserved in the BORI collection. It is heard that the text is on the way of publication.
Three stages about the use of Āyarveda are seen in Jaina literature. In the canonical period, total negation is found. In the commentarial period it is noted that a monk can use pure and acceptable (prāsuka and eșaniya) medicine in exceptional situation. The third stage is seen in the books like Kalyāņakāraka. At this stage Jainas produce books dedicated to this subject. These types of modifications and flexibility really exhibit the wisdom of Jainas through ages.
(x) When we think of ancient Indian mathematics, the works of Aryabhatta (4th cen.A.D.), Brahmagupta and Bhāskarācārya are the most revered ones. Actually speaking, the Numbers and Measurements of Time and Space play important roles in the canonical descriptions of Jaina Cosmology, doctrine of Karman and the life-spans of living beings. Interested person may go through the appendices of Tattvārtha edited by Dr. Nathmal Tatia. Ganitānuyoga of Jainas includes the treatises describing geography, astronomy and astrology.
In Jaina tradition, independent book of mathematics is not found before Ganitasarasamgraha of Mahāvīrācārya. It is noted down by the concerned scholars that in many respects, this book surpasses Brahmagupta and Bhaskarācārya, still very few people know about it. One scholar named Dr. Shah is busy in writing a book on Jaina Mathematics utilizing the library of BORI. I think L.D.Institute is going to
publish it.
Another remarkable work on Maths is Ganitasārakaumudi of Thakkura Pheru written in Jaina Māhārāstri Prakrit. Pheru, a Svetämbara Jaina householder of fourteenth century was a treasurer at the court of Kutubuddin and Allauddin Khilji. He wrote small treatises on various scientific and technical subjects like metallurgy, numismatics, mathematics, gemology, architecture and astrology by using colloquial contemporary terminology. The book is published by Rajasthan Prachyavidya Pratishtan, Jodhpur. The name of the collection is Ratnaparīkņādi-sapta-grantha-samgraha. Thakkura Pheru's position is really really unique in the perspective of Läkşanika literature.
(xi) Kautilya's Arthaśāstra, a proper combination of Politics. Economics and Ethics will remain always at the top in this particular field. Among the later versions of Arthaśārstra, Nītivākyāmîta of the