The Jainas and the Western Scholars

Summary

Padmanabh S. Jaini, himself a renowned scholar of Jainism, reflects on the long history of engagement between the Jaina community and Western academics. He begins by recounting the earliest contacts in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when European missionaries and Orientalists acquired Jaina manuscripts and noted the distinctiveness of the tradition. German scholars such as Hermann Jacobi and Max Weber produced the first critical editions and translations of Jaina sūtras, while French and British Indologists catalogued manuscripts and wrote descriptive accounts. Jaini emphasises that Western interest in Jainism was initially framed by comparative philology and the desire to reconstruct the religious history of India. Early scholars often conflated Jaina doctrines with Buddhism or misinterpreted technical terms because they lacked direct access to living teachers. The situation improved as Jaina monks like Devendrakīrti and Ānandasāgara cooperated with researchers, providing explanations and arranging for the copying of manuscripts. Jaini highlights the pivotal role of Gujarati and Marwari lay patrons who financed printing presses and encouraged the translation of scriptures into European languages. The essay then surveys major contributions of Western scholarship: Jacobi’s translation of the Ācārāṅga‑sūtra, Schubring’s philological work on the Mahā‑nivvāṇa, and the catalogues of Stevenson and Hoernle. Jaini also mentions more recent researchers, including Paul Dundas and his own mentor, A. N. Upadhye, who collaborated with Western institutions. However, he is critical of certain biases: for example, the tendency to privilege Sanskrit texts over vernacular traditions, or to treat Jainism as a mere fossil of ancient asceticism. Jaini concludes by calling for a new phase of collaborative scholarship grounded in mutual respect. Western universities possess resources for critical editing and comparative analysis, while Jain monastics safeguard oral commentaries and perform rituals that animate the texts. By working together, he argues, scholars can produce more accurate translations, preserve endangered manuscripts and ensure that Jainism is studied in its full complexity. The essay thus serves both as a history and as a manifesto for the future of Jaina studies.