प्रकाशकीय

Summary

This is the fifth special issue of the "Jainavidya" magazine, following four previous special issues on the great poets Svayambhu, Pushpadanta (two volumes), and Dhanapala. The positive reception of those issues inspired the publication of this fifth special issue, which focuses on the poet Vira. Jain ascetics, saints, and householders have historically maintained a character of non-sectarianism not only in thought but also in action. In the literary field, they preserved this cultural distinctiveness, refusing to limit themselves to any particular language or literary genre. Their writing flowed equally in Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, Rajasthani, and Bengali. They continued the tradition of preaching and creating literature in the local languages used by the Tirthankaras. Whenever and wherever a language held sway, they adopted it as their medium for literary creation. Consequently, the Jain scriptural repositories contain a unique, sequential record of the evolution of vernacular languages from ancient times to the present. This achievement is largely due to the Jains' awareness of preserving their ancient cultural heritage. Whenever they found old, worn manuscripts, they would restore them, have new copies made, and place them in libraries. During the Bhattaraka period, this practice was so extensive that each Bhattaraka had numerous copyists, known as writers or pandits, who also performed religious rituals. In Jaipur alone, the number of such pandits once reached fifty-one. To fulfill this purpose, they established scriptural repositories in various locations, including Jaisalmer, Nagaur, Delhi, Malpura, and Maujmabad. Jain temples in Jaipur also house such libraries containing thousands of Jain and non-Jain texts. Although the primary goal of Jains has been liberation, they have demonstrated a non-dogmatic nature in literary creation, producing works on grammar, art, astrology, medicine, omens, prose, and poetry, preserving them without regard to religion or culture. The Jainavidya Institute at Shri Mahavirji similarly collects and preserves manuscripts in many