JAINA LITERATURE. {PART – 2}: UPSC Daily Important Topic | 13 April 2022

∆JAINA LITERATURE. {PART – 2}

✓The non-canonical Jaina works are partly in Prakrit dialects, especially Maharashtri, and partly in Sanskrit, which started being used in the early centuries CE.

✓Commentaries on the canonical works include the Nijjuttis (Niryuktis), Bhashyas, and Churnis in Maharashtri and Prakrit; the early medieval Tikas, Vrittis, and Avachurnis are in Sanskrit.

✓The genealogical lists in the Jaina Pattavalis and the Theravalis contain very precise chronological details about the Jaina saints, but they sometimes contradict each other.

✓The Jaina Puranas (the Shvetambaras call them Charitas) are hagiographies of the Jaina saints known as tirthankaras, but they contain other material as well.

✓The Adi Purana (9th century) narrates the life of the first tirthankara Rishabha, also known as Adinatha.