Jainism The Cosmic Vision

SR No.: 006587
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Kumarpal Desai
Publisher: UK Mahavir Foundation London
Publication Year: 2008
Total Pages: 276
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 12 MB

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Jainism : The Cosmic Vision The Sanskrit literature of the Jains contains a number of major philosophical and literary classics which belong to the ancient heritage of India. Umasvati, Siddhasena, Divakara, Samantabhadra, Vidyananda, Haribhadra and Hemachandra 'made contribution which are enduring landmarks in the development of Indian thought and culture.
As regards the Jain influence in the South, the laborious researches of Burness, Buhler, Burges Hoernle, Jacobi and Lewis Rice have almost conclusively proved that the Jains profoundly influenced the political, religious and literary institutions of India. The Kural, an ethical poem of considerable importance in ancient Tamil literature, was composed about the 1st Century A.D., by Saint Tiruvalluvar, who was definitely a sympathizer of Jainism. It is also now almost certain that the Tolkappiyam, an authoritive work on Tamil grammar which is perhaps the earliest among the Tamil texts, was composed by a Jain. Among the other important Tamil works of Jain authorship may be mentioned, the Naladiyar and the like, composed during the early centuries of the Christian Era.
The “Augustan Age" of Tamil literature was the period of the predominance of the Jains in inteilect and learning. Jainism became the religion of some of the Pandyan Kings. Nevertheless they retained in full their intellectual vitality which had in earlier times produced such classical works as the “Kural”, Valaiyapati, Silappadikaram and Jivaka Shinamani. Three of the five Tamil Mahakavyas were composed by Jain writers. Moreover, the Jains continued to enrich the Tamil vocabulary by introducing a large numbers of Sanskrit derivatives and bringing them into conformity with Tamil Phonetics.
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