Dr. Samani Mangal Pragya
In the very beginning there was a tradition of memorizing the scriptures. Even after the invention of the printing system, the tradition of using the hand-written manuscripts was in practice. Hence, Jain āgamas could not reach the masses. First of all in 1880 A.D. Ray Dhanapat Singh Bahadur had published the Jain āgamas, but this edition was not published or edited scientifically. However, the publication of Jain āgamas by Raya Dhanpat Singh Bahadur made them to be easily accessible by all. When western scholars came to know about them, they edited few of them in a systematic manner as they had done with the ancient books of Latin and Greek languages.
Western Scholars
a. Jacobi
Amongst all western scholars, the pioneer was Jacobi who had published a critical edition of Kalpasūtra in the year 1879. The preface of his Kalpasūtra had laid a foundation of future research in this field. He had also translated the Ācārāṅga, Sūtrakṛtāṅga, Kalpasūtra and Uttarādhyayana, which were published in the series of 'Sacred Books of the East'. These texts are written in German language and few of them are found in English version too. Mr. Jacobi has worked on many Jain books other than āgamas. He was the first person, who proved that Jainism is more ancient than Buddhism. Mr. Jacobi's name stands first amongst the western scholars who worked on Jainism. Through his efforts, Jain religion and philosophy has acquired a new identity in the western world.
b. E. Leumann
E. Leumann (1859-1931) also has given valuable contribution in the field of Jainism. He worked on Jain āgamas and received his Ph.D. degree conducting research work on 'Aupapātika Sūtra. 'He edited Daśavaikālika and its niryukti in 1892.
c. Schubring
Mr. Schubring has edited many Jain canonical texts. His edited treatise Acarangsutra, ester shrutaskandha were published in 1918, in Leipzig under the series of Text, analyse un glossar Abhandlungln Yuer die kunde des morgen landes'. In the same year 1918, he published 'Vyavahara and Nisitha' from the same series. After this, in 1951 and 1963, 2 volumes by name Studien zum Mahanisihasutta were published. Some of his edited books in Hindi translation are published by the Jain Sahitya Sansthana, Pune.
Schubring translated the Daśavaikālika Sūtra which was published in 1932 from Ahmedabad. Editing of this translated book was done by his teacher E. Leuman.
After the death of Schubring, two of his edited books and one translated book were published in 1969. A book by name 'gaṇivijjā' was published in the series of Indo Iranian XI 2. This was a text related to the science of prognostications. Another text is Tanḍulaveyāliyaṃ. This text is related to the medical branch. Another work that appeared by the name Isibhasiyāim, Assprueche der weisen aus dem Prakrit der Jaina Uebersetzt (Isibhasiyaim, translated from the Prakrit of the Jains) was the translation of Isibhāsiyāiṃ.
d. Chapentier
Chapentier has edited the original text of Uttarādhyayana and he has also given the text difference or word difference (paṭhāntara) with the original copy of the text. In the introduction of this text, he has given a short introduction of Jain āgamas and their contents. The elementary knowledge about the hand written manuscripts and particularly the manuscripts of Uttarādhyayana is given. He has also presented the text through linguistic analysis. Critical notes are also inserted wherever he felt the need and one of the Ṭīkā (commentary) on Uttarādhyayana is also published with the text. Indian edition of this text was first published by Ajay Book Service, New Delhi in 1980.
e. Alsford
Ludwig Alsford (1904-1978) was a scholar in Jainology. He has explained Jain cosmography on the basis of Jambūdvīpa Prajñapti. He conducted research on few chapters of Uttarādhyayana like Namipravrajyā etc. His valuable work is on the concept of 'Nikṣepa'. He has also discussed about the contents and the material of the lost Dṛṣṭivāda. Apart from Jain āgamas, he has worked on several other Jain literary texts which can be known through the Book L. Alsford, Klesne Schriften.
To know the works of German scholars, 'German Indologists' book is utilized as a resource book.
Agama literature written in Prakrit language is the oldest part of Jain literature. They are the fundamental sources of whole domain of Jain religion and philosophy. In earliest centuries there had been continuous writing conducted on āgama literature in the form of Niryukti, Bhāṣya, Cūrṇī, Ṭīkā, Ṭabbā etc. Ancient Jainācāryas have employed their highly productive brains in writing the explanatory works on āgamas. In modern times also, Indian scholars are working on āgamas.
Indian Scholars
In 1915 Āgamodaya Samiti of Mehsana had published almost all āgama texts. In 1920, Rishi Amolak from Hyderabad published the thirty two āgama text series but it is not a critically analysed edition.
Late Muni Punyavijayaji and Muni Jambuvijayaji have conducted the important work of editing the Jain āgamas. In the series of āgama publication, in the first part Nandī and Anuyogadvāra was published and in the second part Ācārāṅga with its elaborative critical notes and some other āgamas are also published by Sri Mahavira Jain Vidyalaya, Mumbai.
Acharya Sri Jawaharlalji, Acharya Shri Atmaramji, Muni Shri Ghasilalji, Munshri Kanhaiyalalji and Yuvācārya Shri Madhukar Muni have also worked on āgama texts.
In 1955, under the guidance of Acharya Tulsi, a great project of editing of āgama text was launched. He was the Synod chief of this editing work. In this project, the editing of material, descriptive critical notes, research based notes and translation work is being undertaken. At present this project is continued under the guidance of Acharya Shri Mahāprajñā and Acharya Sri Mahashraman. In this synod work, many āgamas have been edited and published. Editing of basic texts of all the agamas has been done. The following is the list of work done on agamas-
- Aṅgasuttāṇi, Part-1
- Aṅgasuttāṇi, Part-2
- Aṅgasuttāṇi, Part-3
- Uvaṅgasuttāṇi, Part-4
- Navasuttāṇi, Part-5
Elaborative critical notes with Sanskrit transliteration and Hindi translation are as follows-
- Ist śrutaskandha of Ācarāṅga.
- Ist and IInd śrutaskandha of Sūtrakṛtāṅga
- Sthānāṅga
- Samavāyāṅga
- First seven śataka of Bhagavatī are published and remaining are under process
- Uttarādhyayana
- Daśavaikālika
- Anuyogadvāra
- Nandī sūtra
- Jñātādharma kathā
- Ācārāṅga with its Bhāṣya (translated in English) is published.
- English translated version of Bhagavaī (with 7 śataka) is published.
- Translation and critical notes of Praśnavyākarāṇa text is under the process of publication.
Dictionaries
- Agama Śabda Koṣa
- Deśi Śabda Koṣa
- Ekārthaka Koṣa
- Nirukta Koṣa
- Sri Bhikṣu Agama Viṣaya Koṣa, Part-1 and 2
- Vanaspati Koṣa
- Niryukti Pañcaka
- Āvaśyaka Niryukti (Part-1)
- Jain Paribhāṣika Śabda Koṣa-Dictionary of Jain Technical Terms.
The in-depth study, profound thinking and research aptitude of Acharya Mahāprajñā founded newer milestones in the field of explanation of āgamas. Hence, these books find extended and excessive utility in the field of research.
From the above description, it becomes clear that like the Buddhist tradition even Jain tradition had faced the problem of securing the Lord's preaching. As Buddhists arranged synods (Sangīti), Jain acharyas have also organized such synods (Vācanā). Even then a big portion of the Lord's preaching has lost. For a long period of time, Jain tradition prohibited writing. But later sensing the impossibility of securing the huge literature in memory, writing was allowed.
Agamas are called as sūtras. Sūtras are always relative in interpretation. Hence right from the beginning Acharyas are undertaken the work of writing descriptive literature in the form of niryukti, bhāṣya, cūrṇī and tīkā etc. Actually to understand the culture and tradition of those days and to understand the cryptic meanings of āgamas, commentary and descriptive literature stand as the resource texts. In the descriptive texts, those have been produced under the guidance of Acharya Tulsi and Acharya Mahāprajñā, with the modern approach in writing the essence of ancient texts is also preserved and presented with serious efforts.
The survived literature could not reach to us in its pure form. Hence after the invention of printing, when it was decided to publish the texts with editing, determining the original form of the text stood a critical problem.
In the Indian atmosphere, no manuscript can survive longer than about 1000 years hence there was no possibility regarding the availability of very ancient manuscripts. Moreover, it has become very difficult to trace out the available manuscripts and also the number of edition of the ancient and original manuscripts. But, it is a confirmed fact, that the original texts that have been produced in the last synod are not available to us, in their original form.
The western scholars have discovered the system of deriving the original text. They have edited several canonical texts through that system. After that Indian scholars have also put their efforts in editing the original canonical texts and its explanatory literature. The result of these efforts is that the research scholars of present times are availed with the āgama and explanatory literature almost in their original form. Hence, towards the end of this chapter, we have enlisted few of such prominent editing works on canonical literature. The descriptive and critical analysis done on those texts has already been introduced in the introductory chapter of this work.
