Historical and Contemporary View of Jain Literature

1
Historical and Contemporary View of Jain
Literature
JAINA Convention Santa Clara July 3, 2005

• Yashwant K. Malaiya

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Historical and Contemporary View of Jain
Literature

• Coordinator Amit Jain, McKinsey, San Francisco
• Moderator Prof. Yashwant Malaiya, Colorado State
  University
• Dr. Jagdish Jain Jain Mission, Delhi
• Vinod Daryapurkar Jainworld.com
• Samanijis Sanmati Pragya Jayant Pragya
  Disciples of Acharya Mahapragya

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Jain Literature Classification

• By source
• Agam Lord Mahavira Kevaklis, through oral
  tradition
• Agam-tulya texts by early authors
• Other by other Acharyas scholars
• Anuyoga classification
• Pratham Historical Puranic accounts
• Charana Conduct of monks and lait
• Karana metaphysics and cosmology
• Dravya principles and nature of things

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Sarasvati Jain Goddess
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Languages

• Earlier literature in Prakrits
• Ardha-Magadhi, Shaurseni, Maharashtri
• Sanskrit starting with Tatvartha-sutra
• Still used by Jain scholars
• Early Tamil and Kannada literature
• Apabhramsh
• Hindi, Gujarati etc
• English since early 20th century

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Issues

• Major Jain contributions to literature in various
  language
• Potential ways of making Jains and non-Jains
  aware of these contributions
• Approaches for promoting creation of literature
  for the current and future generations.
• Here we may broaden the definition of the term
  literature to include not just text but other
  media (music and visual media) as well.

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Jain Contributions

• Jains love literature. They are the most literate
  community in India.
• Jain literature is not limited to religious. Many
  secular Jain contributions as well, grammars,
  mathematics, histories etc.
• Earliest Kannada literature is entirely Jain.
• A large part of classical Tamil literature was
  Jain.
• According to some scholars the earliest
  Hindi/Gujarati book was a Jain text Bharat
  Bahubali Ras.
• In Apabhramsha language, almost all the available
  literature is Jain.
• The first auto-biography in India is
  Ardha-Kathanaka of Banarasidas.
• Oldest libraries in India are Jain Bhandaras of
  Patan and Jaisalmer

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Suggested Focus Topics

• Yashwant K. Malaiya Mention about Jain
  literature across various languages.
• Dr. Jagdish Jain Highlight contributions of the
  Digambara tradition and mention current
  initiatives and needs.
• Vinod Daryapurkar Focus on technology, web, and
  new forms of lierature.
• Samanijis Sanmati Pragya Jayant Pragya
  Highlight contributions of the Swetambara
  tradition and mention current activities and
  needs.
• Format 75 lecture session, 75 minute workshop

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Jain Literature Views
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Questions for possible discussion

• Laukika and Paralukika Dharmas (Worldly vs
  Spiritual literature) Do we need more laukika
  literature to balance the two?
• Do we need Stavans and Pujas in English?
• Should we have more non-text (audio/video)
  literature, since it is easier to absorb?
• Do we need more Narrative literature, since it is
  easier?
• How can we create literature (both text and
  media) that will take the message of Jainism to
  not just future Jains, but to non-Jains as well?
• How can we bring back the spirit of innovation
  that was displayed by early Tamil, Kannada,
  Gujarai, Hindi authors?