Sacred Literature of the Jains

Summary

The article continues a detailed survey of Jaina sacred literature. It enumerates various lists of ancient writing names and notes their antiquity relative to earlier enumerations, indicating how the enumeration of 18 manners of writing evolves across textsfile:///home/oai/share/jain_journal_1993_07_520111_hr6_ocred.pdf#:~:text=5%E0%AB%AD%E0%AB%A60%E0%AB%A6%20vi%20ya%20077%20Keai,8%20trace%20of%20the%201010860006. The author compares lists found in the Kalpantarvacyini, Anuyogadvara-sutra and other canonical works, pointing out how names differ and how some names like the sixty-five names of writing from the Lalitavistara correspond to names found in Jaina textsfile:///home/oai/share/jain_journal_1993_07_520111_hr6_ocred.pdf#:~:text=we%20met%20with%20%28p,A%2C%20kha%20BC%29%20174. The article discusses the positions of different groups of monks (aryas, bhasriyas) and the enumeration of 18 manners of writing that appears in earlier Agama texts, exploring variant readings across manuscripts and commentaries. The discussion also touches on the significance of different scripts, such as Brahmi, Kharosthi and others, and speculates on their origins and connections with other ancient scriptsfile:///home/oai/share/jain_journal_1993_07_520111_hr6_ocred.pdf. Throughout the article, the author cites earlier scholars such as Weber, Jacobi and others, and uses cross-references to Jaina canonical works to support the analysis. The overall purpose of the article is to show how Jaina sacred literature preserves a wealth of historical information on scripts, languages and cultural contacts. The article is heavily footnoted, referencing both Sanskrit and Prakrit sources. It emphasises that the names of scripts represent a later stage than earlier lists but still date back to a remote periodfile:///home/oai/share/jain_journal_1993_07_520111_hr6_ocred.pdf#:~:text=5%E0%AB%AD%E0%AB%A60%E0%AB%A6%20vi%20ya%20077%20Keai,8%20trace%20of%20the%201010860006. The author notes differences in the enumeration of the 18 manners of writing across texts and commentaries and underscores the importance of careful philological analysis to understand the evolution of Jaina sacred literature. Through this detailed exposition, the article provides insights into the development of writing systems in ancient India and the role Jaina texts play in documenting those systems.