The book Jain Studies-Selected Papers is a series of 25 research articles. All the articles deal with various aspects of Jainism. A few of them are related to Prakrit which was originally presumed to have been used by early preceptors of Jainism. Some other articles are based on the study of the Vasudevahindi, composed around the 3rd or 4th Century AD in archaic Jain Maharashtri, which is said to be one of the lost versions of Gunadhya’s Brhatkatha, written in Paisaci dialect. All these rare articles published for the first time will be of use to research scholars of ancient Indian History and Culture, concerning Jain studies. It will also be found useful as a reference material since it highlights the development of Prakrit through expression of thoughts and philosophy by the early preceptors of Jainism. Prakrit is considered to have been the popular dialect of Magadha (Bihar) and, therefore, was widely accepted because of its simplicity and practicality.
The aspects covered in these articles include Status of women, Sati, Popular Tales, Omens, Magical spells, Place of bhakti, Disposal of the dead, Early Jainism, Jain Ramayana, Trade and Commerce and so on. These articles have been most painstakingly written by studying the original Ardhamagadhi sacred literature of the Jains, including the Vasudevahindi, the Angavijja and other important works from the point of view of history and culture. The articles have been composed after studying works written in Prakrit, Pali, Sanskrit, Apbhramsha, old Hindi and old Gujarati; some of them difficult to procure and invariably without critical editions, without any notes and index, and some of course were in manuscript form. This series of articles have been completed over the last 15 years in India and overseas and some of them have even been printed in leading international Indian and foreign Oriental Journals.
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