Collected Research Papers in Prakrit & Jainlogy (Volume II) Edited by NALINI JOSHI (With Preface) Seth H.N.Jain Chair Firodia Publications University of Pune March 2013 NALINI JOSHI 1 Collected Research Papers in Prakrit & Jainlogy (Volume II) Edited by Dr. Nalini Joshi (With Preface) Assisted by Dr. Kaumudi Baldota Dr. Anita Bothra Publisher : Seth H.N.Jain Chair Firodia Publications (University of Pune) All Rights Reserved First Edition : March 2013 For Private Circulation Only Price : Rs. 300/- D.T.P. Work : Ajay Joshi 2 Preface with Self-assessment Impartial self-assessment is one of the salient features in post-modernism. An attempt has been made in this direction in the present preface cum editor's note cum publisher's note. All the research-papers collected in this book are the outcome of the research done jointly with the help of the assistance given by Dr. Anita Bothara and Dr. Kaumudi Baldota, under the auspices of Seth H.N.Jaina Chair which is attached to the Dept. of philosophy, University of Pune. All the three roles viz. author, editor and publisher are played by Dr. Nalini Joshi, Hon. Professor, Jaina Chair. While looking back to my academic endeavor of twenty-five years, up till now, a fact comes up glaringly the whole span of my life is continuous chain of rare opportunities in the field of Jaina Studies. In the two initial decades while working in the "Comprehensive and Critical Dictionary of Prakrits', under the able editorship of Late Dr.A.M.Ghatage, I got acquaintance, with almost five hundred original Prakrit texts. Side by side, for the last twenty-five years, I got opportunity to teach Prakrit and especially Jaina Philosophical texts, through the Institute "Sanmati-Teerth', a purely academic institute dedicated to Jaina Studies. In July 2007, I was appointed an honorary professor of Seth H.N.Jaina Chair. Through the academic as well as informal discussions with my colleagues in the philosophy department, I got new perspectives, thought models and approaches to look at Jaina Studies. The discussions helped me a lot to re-understand what is (i) religious, (ii) ethical or moral, (iii) philosophical, (iv) epistemological, (v) metaphysical and ontological and (vi) spiritual - in the perspective of Jainaism. When we started to scan and screen the various aspects of Jaina Studies on the comprehensive background of the whole Indian Philosophy, gave rise to many naive issues for further research. The aims and objectives of the esteemed Jaina Chair are threefold viz. (i) Research, (ii) Popular Activities and (iii) Publication. The present collection of the research papers is the 8th publication of the Chair during last five years. The first part of the collected research papers was published in 2008. It is not noted down on the cover-page that it is "Volume I' because it was not imagined at that time that we would be able to publish the second volume in 2012. The process of research is continuously going on in the Jaina Chair with my two experienced and dedicated research assistants, viz. Dr.Anita Bothara and Dr.Kaumudi Baldota. Nearly sixty research papers are prepared during the span of five years in Marathi, Hindi and English according to the requirement of the concerned seminar, conference or symposium. The first volume of the collected papers contains tri-lingual papers. The present collection contains the research papers written in English. Out of the nineteen articles mentioned in the list of contents, the last two articles are informative in nature and contain very little research value as such. One article is useful in understanding the contribution of Prakrits to the Indian literature, in a very comprehensive manner. The other article highlights the poetic and cultural value of G¢h¢sattasai. Both the articles were written on the demand of the prestigious and celebrated magazine viz. "Heritage India'. Due to this reason, it was decided to include the articles in the present collection. All the first fifteen papers 3 are specially invited papers, which are read out, discussed, sometimes debated and generally appreciated in various International and National Seminars and Conferences. The Scope of Jaina Studies "Jaina Studies' is an independent branch of knowledge having multiple aspects. In true sense it is inter-disciplinary by its own nature. Jaina is one of the ancient religions, therefore it can contribute to religious studies. Historicity of Jaina tradition is indisputable. At the same time the threads of Jaina history is interwoven in the Indian history with great integrity. Thus a scholar of Jainaism can throw a new light on the Indian history whether ancient, medieval or modern. Many problems of date-fixation can be solved with the help of its Jaina counterpart. It is quite evident that in the symposia and seminars of philosophy, a Jaina scholar has a tremendous scope in special conferences like "Darºanapari¾ada' or "Ny¢yapari¾ada', a scholar of Jainaism can participate easily. They are invited in the conferences of Jaina Ethics, Jaina Logic, Oriental and Indological studies. In contemporary philosophies, "Feminism' or "Women Studies' is gaining popularity. In Jaina tradition, though the man-woman equality is mostly mok¾a-centric, the other issues concerned to the abilities of both are discussed at length on various occasions. Thus a Jaina scholar can have an easy access in the conferences dedicated to Feminism. In the last century (1900-2000 A.D.) the scholars of Jainaism edited literary hundreds of original Jaina texts which were written in Sanskrit, Prakrit and Apabhra¼ºa. There are Jaina grantha-bh¢´²¢ras all over India full of unedited manuscripts. Therefore an experienced scholar of Jainaism can share his experiences in the seminars on "Manuscriptology'. It is generally observed that the seminars of Prakrit are crowded with Jaina scholars because nearly eighty percent of Prakrit literature is produced by Jaina authors. It is very unfortunate that the scholars of Sanskrit are acquainted with very few Jaina Sanskrit texts like Var¢¬gacarita,Yaºastilakaca¼p¦ and N¤tiv¢ky¢m¨ta. A Jaina scholar having a mastery over Sanskrit can enlighten the Sanskritists in seminars and conferences. Jainas have contributed a lot to the modern Indian colloquial regional languages, especially to Kannad, Marathi, Gujarathi and Hindi. A scholar of Jainaism, having specialization in the concerned language can present his studies from literary point of view as well as from linguistic point of view. In last two decades, especially in India the seminars on Environmental science and Bio-ethics are arranged in collaboration with institutions like UNESCO, with a great optimism. There is no need to say that the pro-environmental thoughts are imbibed in Jaina philosophy and practice, since non-violence is the base and essence of Jainaism in the above mentioned conferences is very easy, natural and thought-provoking. If we cast a glance at the details given in bracket under the main title of each paper, the reader will come to know that there is a close connection of Jainaism to various faculties of knowledge. 4 When such types of collections are published, generally they are divided under various sections. In the present book, the chronological order is maintained. The year wise and month wise order starts from October 2008 and ends in October 2012. Here the special feature of each paper is given in nutshell. Summary of Papers with Critical Remarks (1) Peculiarities of Jainaa Mah¢r¢¾°r¤ Literature In October 2008, a seminar was organized by K.J.Somaiya College, Vidy¢vih¢ra, Mumbai in collaboration with Jaina Viºvabh¢rat¤, Ladnun. The central theme was "The Spectrum of Jainaism in Southern India.' The spectrum was highlighted from the angle of Philosophy, History, Art and Architecture, Literature and Social movement. The paper highlighting peculiarities of Jainaa Mah¢r¢¾°r¤ was the only paper written in the section of literature. The history of Jainaism in Southern India starts from Mah¢r¢¾°ra, ¹vet¢mbara writers started their Jainaa Mah¢r¢¾°r¤ writings in 3rd century A.D. and continued up to 15th century. Close association of Jainaa ¡c¢ryas with Mah¢r¢¾°ra is explained in this paper with the help of various Prabandhakoºas documenting legendary histories. A detailed account of the whole Jainaa Mah¢r¢¾°r¤ literature is presented in this paper. It is aptly observed at the end that, "Though variety --- long period'. (Please see the conclusive part of the paper.) The paper can be supplemented with the interesting fact that after 15th century, Jainaa authors contributed a lot to modern Marathi literature. But at this stage ¹vet¢mbara authors went on back foot and Digambara ¡c¢ryas produced ample Jainaa literature in poetry form during 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. Most of the treatises are biographies of eminent personalities in Jainaa mythology. (2) The Jaina Versions of R¢m¢ya´a Aikyabharati Research Institute organized an International Conference on "The Different Versions of R¢m¢ya´a', in Nov. 2008. Almost all Indian and Asian versions of R¢m¢ya´a were presented by the scholars. In this paper the Jainaa Versions of R¢m¢ya´a were presented by me. This paper documents the contribution of Jainas to the popular R¢m¢ya´a. Jainaa R¢m¢ya´as are found in Jainaa Mah¢r¢¾°r¤, Sanskrit and Apabhra¼ºa. Later Jainaa authors have generally followed the Jainaized form of R¢makath¢ authored by Vimalas¦ri. Three R¢m¢ya´as are purposefully selected representing three centuries. In Jainaa scriptures, there are hardly any references of R¢ma and his biography. In post-canonical literature R¢makah¢ starts from Vimalas¦ri (3rd-4th Cen.A.D.). In this paper the R¢makath¢s of (i) Vimalas¦ri, Ravi¾e´a, Svayambh¦ and Hemacandra (ii) Gu´abhadra and ¡º¢dhara and (iii) ¹¤l¢¬ka are dealt with.