"The present collection of Essays in Jain Philosophy and Religion contains contributions of world-acclaimed scholars in jain studies. As a through and critical research work in the field of Jaina exploration of the history and background of the exchange of ideas between the Jainas and other systems of thought in India, the book will prove to be a rare document. Each of the four main sections of the present volume pertains to an important aspect within Jaina studies. "
Essays in this volume offer fesh insights into Jain principles of Ahimsa and Anekanta by examining their meaning and historical significance, and demonstrate their relevance and role in addressing contemporary issues of intolerance, conflict, violence and war. Contributers to this book bring perspectives from the disciplines of philosophy, religious studies, history and art history.
"It is historically certain that the Jaina contribution to education was as great, significant and important as that of the Buddhists. The book offers an account by studying the problem in connection with its five important agent, viz. the family, the church, the school, the state and the industry. The title `Jaina System of Education` that the book bears might be more appropriately replaced by `Educational Systems found in Jaina Literature` inasmuch as the Brahmanical the secular and the vocational education have also been dealt with. It is a historical fact that there were no watertight compartments in India separating Jainism Buddhism and other cognare schemes of life and caltgion. They all contributed harmoniously towards the development of culture as whole. Necessarily the contributions of these several systems in the field of education were inseparably mixed up.
""This book is a very exhaustive and informative volume on the system of education which was prevalent in ancient India and the author has presented the whole picture of the educational life of jains through its several sources."" --VEDANTA KESARI ""...it is"
In the struggle to sustain the earth's environment as viable for future generation, environment studies have, thus far, left religion unprobed, in contrast to the emphasis given to science and technology. Yet, no understanding of the environment is adequate without a grasp of the religious life that constitutes human societies. As all encompassing, religious ideas not just content with other ideas as equals; they frame the mind set within which all sorts of ideas commingle in a cosmology. Built on the premise that religions of the world maybe instrumental in addressing moral dilemmas created by environmental crisis, this book discusses Jain Cosmology, its Ethics and worldview. The voices included reflect a wide spectrum of approaches. This book in the S.L. Jain Research Series, intends to expand this discussion, inviting further collaboration on a topic of common concern-the fate of the Earth as a religious responsibility.
"Jainism is a tradition which dates back thousands of years, which is unbelievably rich and profound, and which has certain unmistakable signs of identity. Contrary to what some might think, it is not in any sense a poor relation of Buddhism, nor is a strange, atheistic and ascetic sect within Hinduism. Jainism is, above all, the religion of non-violence (ahimsa), an ideal which all other religions of India were subsequently to make theirs and which was made universal by Gandhi in the 20th century. Like Buddhism, Jainism is a religion without God which paradoxically opens to the truly sacred in the deepest reaches of all living beings in the cosmos. And it is also the religion of non-absolutism (anekantavada), a particular form of philosophical pluralism, which seems astonishingly modern.
The author traces the dynamics and development of Jainism-deftly steering between the extremes of the overly academic and the superficial. He looks at Jainism's main features: its cosmology, mythology, its origins and great figures, its main subdivisions and religious groups, its scriptures, practices and soteriological approaches, as well as its rituals, the social, cultural and political interactions, and so forth.
Jainism is both a didactic introduction and an invitation to study the religious traditions of Indian: a study of its philosophy, its art, its ways of life, its ways of being integrated into the world, and releasing from it."
"This book shows that it can be very fruitful for science to study other thought-systems than those in which we were born and raised. In our days we can make use of the entire heritage of the mind-created global mosaic of cultures. Much more of such type of research should be done by able philosophers and scientists. Ancient thinkers have come up with insights that lack us today - causing unnecessary ignorance and suffering. Probably no philosopher in the world would disagree with the statement that there is no knowledge higher than Truth-but that there are many ways for the mind to approach her.
Jainism is definitely more spiritual in its understanding than Western science and philosophy. It also covers subtle aspects of nature as yet unknown to or ill-understood by mainstream science.
The book contains so much information on the modern science, including, for example, the latest theories and speculations of physics, chemistry, cosmology and genetics, and other disciplines, that for this reason alone it could be used as a general textbook for science students. But the great extra value of it is the extensive exposure of Jain ideas laid down in scriptures throughout the last two millennia by scholars and Jain acharyas (ascetics, monks). Then both traditions-modern science and Jain science-are thoroughly compared."
The Nyayavatara is one of the first serious Jaina treatises on epistemology. It has been for long erroneously ascribed by tradition to Siddhasens Divakara, but now it seems certain that its author is a certain Siddhasens Mahamati, who lived circa 710/720-700/780. He enters into polemics with other-mostly Buddhist- epistemological schools and endeavours to establish a Jaina epistemological tradition of its own. Despite its importance, the work is rather secondary in the sense that it relies, for the most part, on the Buddhist logical legacy. The first extant commentary is the Nyayavatara vivrti of Siddharsiganin. Although its significance has often been under-estimated, Siddhsiganin was responsible for the subsequent development of Jaina epistemological thought to a much larger degree than it has so far been recognized. He refers to major philosophical schools of his times, e.g. to Sautrantika, Yogacara, Sunyavada, Saugata, Samkhya, Mimamsa, Naiyayika Vaisesika, Carvaka, Advaita-vedanta, the materialists, etc. The gloss (Nyayavatara-tippana) of Dvebhadrasure, which is amply quoted in the present edition, is a useful source of quotations.
Varadaraja wrote the Laghusiddhantakaumudi, a short version of Bhattojidiksita's Siddhantakaumudi, in order to inculcate an ability in beginners to gain access to the Astadhyayi as he claims in the invocatory verse. This work, which is the first of the three-volume project, covers 371 sutras on samjna, sandhi, subanta and avyaya prakaranas. It includes the translation of the sutra and the vrtti on it by Varadaraja, which is followed by the paraphrased sutra in which padas are kept in nonsandhi form. The carried over padas are given along with the sutras from the Astadhyayi from which they have been carried over. In the elucidation that follows the paraphrase, the meaning of the sutra and the vrtti thereon is explained in detail. Relevant grammatical aspects have also been discussed so that some light is thrown on the depth and nuances of vyakarana-sastra. The present work fulfils a compelling need for a detailed commentary on the Laghusiddhantakaumudi in English.
"The present volume, which is the third and final of the three-volume-series, consists of five chapters containing the elucidated translation of 508 sutras and 69 varttikas which lay down the meaning conditions for the use of case-endings and explain the derivational process of primary (krdanta) and secondary (taddhitanta) derivates, compounds (samasa) and feminine forms. The scheme and method of exposition adopted in the preceding two volumes have been followed here also.
In the first chapter, the krt-affixes are expounded. The affixes, which are prescribed after verbal roots in the governing domain of dhatoh (763) and are other than tin-affixes, are designated as krt in accordance with the aphorism krdatin (301). These primary affixes are employed to form nominal bases like karta, pacaka, etc. and other primary derivatives such as pitva, gacchan, etc. These affixes have been treated under four heads in the Laghu: (1) krtya affixes, (2) purvakrdanta, (3) unadisutras and (4) uttarakrdanta. The second chapter entitled vibhaktyartha-prakarana discusses the karaka and upapada case-endings very briefly. The third chapter is devoted to compounds (samasa). The words for the sake of brevity. The purpose of the grammatical function of compounding words is to bring about a unique single word which is to have one main accent (aikapadyam aikasvaryan ca samasatvad bhavati, Kasika on Pa 2.1.27). To explain, the syntactically and semantically connected words rajnah and purusah occurring in the string rajnah purusah, are combined into a single compound word rajapurusah by sasthi (927). Since it is treated as a single word, it has one main accent, that is, the last vowel a, following the cerebral sibilant s, is marked with the udatta accent by samasasya Pa. 6.1.223. The fourth chapter explains the derivational process after the introduction of taddhita affixes which are introduced after a finished word ending in a sup-affix which is deleted as the derivatives formed with these affixes are assigned the pratipadika designation by krttaddhitasamasasca (116). The last chapter contains the elucidation of the sutras which prescribe feminine affixes to form feminine derivates."
The present volume, which is the second of the three-volume-series, expounds 391 sutras of the Laghusiddhantakaumudi that explain the conjugational process of verbal roots and related grammatical principles. When the verbal terminations, that is tin-affixes which are replacements for the abstract affix are introduced, the conjugational process is set in motion. This process is more complex than the declensional process of nominal stems. This is the reason why the exposition o the conjugation of verbal stems requires a more detailed analysis for the sake of comprehensibility and clarity. The verbal roots after which the verbal terminations are added are listed in the dhatupatha and arranged in ten groups known as ganas. There are about 1944 verbal roots out of which 226 have been treated in the present work, besides the five sautra roots. The second kind of verbal roots, after which the verbal endings are introduced, are those which are derived with the introduction of the following twelve affixes: san, kyac, kamyac, kyan, kyas, kvip, nic, yan, yak, aya, iyan and nin. The latter kind of derived verbal roots are assigned the dhatu-designation by sanadyanta dhatavah (467). The personal verbal terminations which are used after both kinds of verbal stems are prescribed in the governing domain of dhatoh. They are divided into two mutually exclusive categories: sarvadhatuka and ardhadhatuka. The derivational journey of a verbal root starts with the introduction of the abstract affix and ends with the finished verbal form fit to be used in an actual utterance. As such, the significance of the conjugational analysis can be inferred from the important role that a finished verbal form plays in a sentence. The transformations, which a verbal stem under goes till it reaches the finished form with which it is actually used in a speech condition, are so varied and sometimes so drastic that the original form of the verbal root becomes difficult to identify. That is why it is of prime importance to have a sound knowledge of the conjugational derivation of a verbal root, which is the subject-matter of the present volume.
"Panini’s Astadhyayi represents the first attempt in the history of the world to describe and analyse the components of a language on scientific lines. It has not only been universally acclaimed as the first and foremost specimen of Descriptive Grammar but has also been a chief source of inspiration for the linguist engaged in describing languages of different regions.
To understand Sanskrit language, and especially that part of it which embodies the highest aspirations of ancient Aryan people, viz., the Brahmanas, Samhitas, and Upani-sads, it is absolutely necessary to have a complete knowledge of the grammar elaborated by Panini. Being a masterpiece of reasoning and artistic arrangement its study is bound to cultivate intellectual powers. Western scholars have described it as a wonderful manife-station of Indian intelligence.
This book is an English translation of Astadhyayi in two volumes and has won a unique position in the world of scholarship."
"Siddhanta Kaumudi is a critical and scholarly commentary on the sutras of Panini by Bhattoji Diksita, a stalwart grammarian of the Panini system who flourished in the first half of the seventeenth century. The Sutras are arranged topic-wise and fully explained with examples and counter-examples. The work is exhaustive, yet not voluminous, difficult yet popular, and critical yet lucid. The work is next in importance to the Mahabhasya in the system of Panini, and its study prepares the way for understanding the Mahabhasya. It is prescribed for study in the courses of Vyakarana at every academy and Pathasala and is expected to be committed to memory by students who want to be thorough scholars of Vyakarana. By virtue of its methodical treatment it has thrown into the background all kindred works and glosses or Vrttis on the Sutras of Panini. It is arranged into two halves, the first half dealing with seven topics (1) Sangya Paribhasha, (2) Panchsandhi, (3) Shadling (4) Stri Pratyay, (5) Karak, (6) Samas, (7) Taddhit and the latter half dealing with five topics (1) Dashgani (2) Dwadashprakriya (3) Kridant, (4) Vaikiki, and (5) Swar!
The present work is the translation of the above book in English in two volumes. S.C. Vasu has rendered a great service to the ancient Indian Literature by translating this book into English. This translation commands a unique position in the world of scholarship."
"The language whose phonology is described in this work is standard Hindi, i.e., the Hindi used in everyday casual speech by educated native speakers in cities such as Varanasi, Lucknow, Delhi etc., which is different from highly Sanskritized Hindi called literary style Hindi and highly Perso-Arabicized Urdu, a native speaker being one who has learnt the language as his first language.
The author’s interest lies in accounting for the Hindi speakers’ competence i.e., providing evidence for the psychological reality of certain sound patterns of Hindi. This study is a mixture of two types of evidence. Some evidence is provided from experimental data and other is from hypercorrection, from children’s mistakes, from native speakers’ reactions to certain forms. The model used is that of generative phonology with modifications suggested throughout.
The work is divided into six chapters. The first chapter deals with the segments of Hindi that need to be recognized as phonemes. Chapter 2 deals with current morpheme structure theory, and some suggested revisions of it. Chapter 3 discusses the 'abstractness’ issue. Chapter 4 gives a detailed account of the initial, medial and final clusters of Hindi, and gives the if-then sequential constraints necessary to account for these. Chapter 5 has two parts, the first discussing the problem of nasalization in Hindi and the second dealing with the issue of homorganic nasals in Hindi. The sixth chapter discusses the o-deletion rule in Hindi."
This Volume contains 30 papers viz. Structure Convergence, and Diglossia of S.A. languages, arrnaged under five sections relating to I. Syntax and Semantics, II. Phonetics, Phonology and Morphology; III. Orthography, Script and Archaeology, IV. Convergence, V. Diglossia.
Dr. Steever explores the linguistic structure and development of the Serial Verb Formation, a family of constructions whose very existence has escaped the notice of earlier Dravidianists.
This volume brings together eight contributions of Professor Madhav M. Deshpande relating to the historical sociolinguistics of sanskrit and Prakrit languages. The studies brought together here represent his continuing research in this field after his 1979 book: Sociolinguistic Attitudes in India: An Historical Reconstruction. The main thrust of these studies is to show that patterns of language, including grammatical theories are deeply influenced by political, religious, geographical, and other sociohistorical factors. This is true as much of ancient languages as it is for modern languages.
Of these 27 articles on Dravidian subjects, 23 deal with linguistic topics, several ranging through the Dravidian family as a whole; others concentrate on specific languages, such as Toda, Kota, Kodagu, Brahui, but all attempt to fit specific language data into the comparative study the languages of the family. The author has realized that the comparative study of a language family depends on the firm identificatioin of etymologies, and several of the papers concentrate on etymological study. Such general questions as India as a some-what unified linguistic area, or the structure of personal names, or the ethnological basis of some lexical items, appear in several papers. Four of the papers are on specific Toda subjects; in three of these the approach is in the first place linguistic. These results of some 50 years of study further knowledge of the Dravidian component of India`s people and culture.
This book provides a fairly comprehensive description of the Morphology of Hindi. This description is located in the theory proposed by Ford and Singh. They question some of the most celebrated concepts of morphology and build a theory of morphological relatedness around the word as the basic unit and a set of bidirectional Word Formation Strategies. Morphology is essentially regarded as the study of relationships obtaining among formally and semantically related words. These Word Formation Strategies constitute extremely complex networks of word-relatedness. Access to a single member of a given network can activate the whole network. It examines critically not only the concepts used in traditional morphology but also the work done on Hindi morphology during the nineteenth and early twentieth century. In addition to examining intra-and intercategorial relationships among Hindi nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs, the book includes sections on morphophonemic changes, minimization of morphological marks, non-morphemic morphemes and multiple affixation.
Maithili: Some Aspects of Its Phonetics and Phonology presents an account of some phonetic and phonological aspects of a variety of the `standard` dialect of Maithili, a modern Indo-Aryan language spoken by more than 21 million people in the northern and eastern regions of the state of Bihar in India and in the Tarai districts of Nepal. The author attempted to establish, describe and classify the speech sounds and sound systems of Maithili using a relatively more modern phonological framework, especially using the `standard theory` to generative phonology as presented by Chomsky and Halle in The Sound Pattern of English.
It is hoped that this book will prove useful to linguists and phoneticians in particular and scholars interested in Maithili and related studies in general.
"This book is about the cultural and religious patterns as these may be reconstructed on a twofold basis: Vedic poets views as known from the Rgveda and some old Indo-European literary sources examined in a comparative perspective.
In its main bulk offers a novel approach to the Vedic theory of sacrifice from the point of view of the Vedic priest as an individual social type whose doing was conditioned by the conflict between the groups practising sacrifice as well as the tension between the patron of the sacrifice and the officiant. It also envisages the integration of the warrior into the sacrificial ritual and suggests a solution to the problem of the daksina (commonly called sacrificial priest`s salary) interpreted as a materialisation of the relation between the priest, the gods invoked and the patrons of sacrifice, the daksina`s function being to denote the value of the poetic word in the prayer.
The book tackles also some particular issues in Vedic and Indo-European religions: the typology of the warrior, the `cooking` of the poetic word linked to the double-entendre in Vedic poetry designed as a means to solve the problem of the relative importance of the speech within sacrificial ritual and of the food offerings to the gods; the early origins of the yogic practice in Vedic times related to some Indo-European practices as disclosed in Avestan, Hittite and Latin texts."
"The present work attempts to identify spatial patterns of the extent and nature of language shifts among the tribal population in India. It provides social, economic and political dimensions of changing linguistic identity. Based on both secondary and primary data, some of the socio-economic variables have been statistically tested through Correlation and Regression to determine the relationship with language shifts. The impact of urbanisation and regional development on the linguistic behaviour of the tribal population has been analysed.
The study rejects the claim that language shift indicates the process of integration-rather it shows the process of assimilation of the tribal people into the majority culture group. In fact, language shifts among these societies have been perceived more often as social compulsions.
The study emphasizes the need of promoting and preserving the tribal languages as these are cultural heritage of India. The study may provide a basis to understand the dynamics of language shift-as it might have implications of language planning in multilingual societies like India."
"This is a thoroughly revised and expanded version of a book published earlier under the same title in 1972. It has been redrafted as an introductory text-book for students of linguistics by giving copious examples and also exercises and recommended readings. It has been prepared with students of the Indian subcontinent in mind, as the examples derive primarily from the languages (Dravidian, Indo-Aryan and Tibeto-Burman) of this area."
"The Eighteenth Round Table of South Asian Language Analysis (SALA) was organised by the Centre of Linguistics and English, School of Languages, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi (India), January 4-6, 1997. The conference was attended by scholars from all over the world and about 150 papers were presented in 20 parallel sessions and plenary sessions. This volume is a representative sample of the breadth and quality of research that is being carried out in South Asian linguistics today."