Jain Hindi literature

This paper examines an instance of Jain Hindi canon-formation in the 18th century. The dynamics of transmission of Jain Hindi works can be studied more easily than that of many other sectarian and non-sectarian compositions since Jainism produced an extraordinary manuscript culture in South Asia. Jains paid particular attention not only to writing and copying manuscripts but also to their preservation as can be seen from the richness and good maintenance of the Jain Bhandaras in Gujarat, Rajasthan and elsewhere. A quasi-canonical collection of Ānandghan's songs, the Ānandghan-bahattarī, «The Seventy-two songs of Ānandghan», was formed about a century after the poet's lifetime. However, a high number of songs were left out of this collection. This study will show that both centripetal and centrifugal forces operated at the shaping of the canon: while scribes attempted to arrive at a complete collection of the revered poet-saint several poems were rejected for various reasons.

This paper examines an instance of Jaina Hindi canon-formation in the eighteenth century. The dynamics of transmission of Jaina Hindi works can be studied more easily than that of many other sectarian and non-sectarian compositions since Jainism produced an extraordinary manuscript culture in South Asia. Jainas paid particular attention not only to writing and copying manuscripts but also to their preservation as can be seen from the richness and good maintenance of the Jaina Bhandaras in Gujarat, Rajasthan and elsewhere.