Books Received

Summary

Bhayani's edited volume Samkhitta Taramgavai Kaha from 1979 is an abridged version of the lost Taramgavai of Acarya Padalipta which dates to around the first century AD. The abridgement may have been prepared by an anonymous writer around the tenth century and is presented here with a Gujarati translation and a detailed introduction. The volume offers a verse index plus Bhadresvara's shorter version of the Taramgavai and a table that compares verses common to both the original Taramgavai and the abridged Samkhitta Taramgavai making it a practical resource for scholars of Jaina narrative literature. Dalsukh Malvania's 1980 book Jain Darsan ka Adikal collects two lectures on the early phase of Jaina philosophy delivered at Sivaji University in Kolhapur in memory of Dr A N Upadhye. The short work in Hindi examines how Jaina thought evolved in its formative period and highlights doctrinal debates that shaped the tradition. A C Mittal edited The Inscriptions of Imperial Paramaras in 1979 and assembled eighty five inscriptions that had been published in scattered journals. By presenting translations detailed notes and a historical introduction in Hindi the volume offers epigraphists a consolidated corpus of primary sources on the Imperial Paramara dynasty. R M Shah's collection Samdhikavya Samuccaya from 1980 brings together twenty samdhikavya poems written in Apabhramsa between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries. The editor provides an introduction in Gujarati that discusses the linguistic features and cultural contexts of these poems which enrich our understanding of medieval Jaina poetic traditions. Another significant work is the joint edition of Gommatasara Volume Two Jiva Kanda by A N Upadhye and Siddhantacharya Kailash Chandra published in 1979. This volume is part of the Jnanapith Murtidevi Granthamala series and includes the ancient Prakrit text with the Karnataka Vrtti a Sanskrit tika called Jivatattvapradipika and a Hindi translation. By compiling commentaries in multiple languages the editors provide scholars with a comprehensive tool for studying Jaina metaphysics and spiritual discipline. The final book noted is P L Vaidya and Devendra Kumar Jain's edition of Puspadanta's Mahapurana Volume One from 1979 which belongs to the same Jnanapith series. The editors supply an introduction a Hindi translation and an index of verses alongside the Apabhramsa text thereby facilitating the study of Puspadanta's lengthy narrative that covers Jaina cosmology and legendary history. Collectively the Books Received section reflects the vibrancy of modern Jaina scholarship with works that recover ancient texts compile inscriptions curate medieval poetry and provide critical editions with translations.