52-449: The Ṣaṭkhaṅḍāgama ( Prakrit : "Scripture in Six Parts") is the foremost and oldest Digambara Jain sacred text. According to Digambara tradition, the original teachings of lord Mahavira were passed on orally from Ganadhar , the chief disciple of Mahavira to his disciples and so on as they had the capability of listening and remembering it for always. But as the centuries passed there
104-860: A classical language on 3 October 2024 by the Government of India as the earliest Prakrit texts are older than literature of most of the languages. In 1955, government of Bihar established at Vaishali , the Research Institute of Prakrit Jainology and Ahimsa with the aim to promote research work in Prakrit. The National Institute of Prakrit Study and Research is located in Shravanabelagola , Karnataka, India. Parwar (Jain) Parwar , also spelt as Paravāra (परवार in Hindi, पौरपट्ट in Sanskrit inscriptions),
156-450: A Sanskrit drama, the characters should speak Maharashtri Prakrit in verse and Shauraseni Prakrit in prose. But the 10th century Sanskrit dramatist Rajashekhara does not abide by this rule. Markandeya, as well as later scholars such as Sten Konow, find faults with the Prakrit portions of Rajashekhara's writings, but it is not clear if the rule enunciated by Vishvanatha existed during Rajashekhara's time. Rajashekhara himself imagines Prakrit as
208-530: A distinction between Jain and non-Jain Prakrit literature. Jacobi used the term "Jain Prakrit" (or "Jain Maharashtri", as he called it) to denote the language of relatively late and relatively more Sanskrit-influenced narrative literature, as opposed to the earlier Prakrit court poetry. Later scholars used the term "Jain Prakrit" for any variety of Prakrit used by Jain authors, including the one used in early texts such as Tarangavati and Vasudeva-Hindi . However,
260-480: A good command of the original language of the texts, as several of the extant Prakrit texts contain inaccuracies or are incomprehensible. Also, like Sanskrit and other ancient languages Prakrit was spoken and written long before grammars were written for it. The Vedas do not follow Panini's Sanskrit grammar which is now the basis for all Sanskrit grammar. Similarly, the Agamas, and texts like Shatkhandagama , do not follow
312-549: A large period of the first millennium, literary Prakrit was the preferred language for the fictional romance in India. Its use as a language of systematic knowledge was limited, because of Sanskrit's dominance in this area, but nevertheless, Prakrit texts exist on topics such as grammar, lexicography , metrics, alchemy, medicine, divination , and gemology . In addition, the Jains used Prakrit for religious literature, including commentaries on
364-516: A number of technical terms defining various concepts and mathematical notions. The first three parts deal with the karma philosophy from the view point of the soul which is the agent of the bondage and the last three section discusses the nature and extent of the karmas. The commentary on the first five parts is known as the Dhaval्ā . The commentary on the sixth part is known as the Mahādhavalā . Dhavalā
416-410: A single language or a single kind of language, alongside Sanskrit, Apabhramsha, and Paishachi . German Indologist Theodor Bloch (1894) dismissed the medieval Prakrit grammarians as unreliable, arguing that they were not qualified to describe the language of the texts composed centuries before them. Other scholars such as Sten Konow , Richard Pischel and Alfred Hillebrandt disagree with Bloch. It
468-535: A team of scholars including, Pt. Phulchandra Shastri, Pt. Kailashchandra Shastri, Sh. Sheryansh Kumar Jain Shastri, Pt. Hiralal Shastri and Pt. Balachandra Shastri started the project of revival and study of the Digambara āgama. These scholars had to face stiff opposition from the monks and the traditional srāvakas who were opposed to the very concept of printing religious scriptures as they felt that printing would undermine
520-699: A temple town in South-West Karnataka . The palm leaf manuscript, itself written during the Rashtrakura rule, is still preserved. Some of the leaves contain beautiful paintings of historical importance A copy was reputed to have been at the Malked (Manyakhet) Mutt, but that has not survived. At Mudabidri, these scriptures were treated with great reverence, but became mere objects of worship, and unavailable to outside scholars. Ordinary householders were not permitted to study these. Digambara āgamas like Satkhandāgama and
572-544: A wealthy land-owner from Vidisha ( Bundelkhand , Madhya Pradesh ) belonging to the Paravāra community, to donate Rs. 30,000 for the cause of editing and publishing the Satkhandāgama along with its Dhavalā commentary, expertly edited and accompanied by an excellent Hindi translation. This donation enabled Dr Hiralal Jain to work together with Dr. A.N. Upadhye, close friend and a scholar of Prakrit. Dr. Hiralal Jain brought together
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#1733085187939624-468: Is a group of vernacular classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 3rd century BCE to the 8th century CE. The term Prakrit is usually applied to the middle period of Middle Indo-Aryan languages, excluding earlier inscriptions and Pali . The oldest stage of Middle Indo-Aryan language is attested in the inscriptions of Ashoka (ca. 260 BCE), as well as in
676-775: Is a major Jain community from the Bundelkhand region , which is largely in Madhya Pradesh , but also includes the two districts of Lalitpur and Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh. Apart from them, Nagpur district (Maharashtra) have also a very large Parwar community. There is an area in Itwari of Nagpur known as Parwar-Pura having large number of Parwar's homes and shops . Most of the Nagpur's Parwar are migrated from Sagar, Deori, and other small villages of Sagar District of MP. Parwar exclusively follow
728-576: Is divided into 16 sections which is as follows: Mahādhavalā the commentary on sixth section called Mahabandha has seven books. The other Digambara āgama , the Kasāyapāhuda , also has a voluminous commentary. It is called the Jaya Dhavalā . All three commentaries were composed by Ācārya Virasena and Ācārya Jinasena (8th century CE). The text and its commentaries preserved on the palm leaf manuscripts run into some 120,000 verses. One interesting fact about
780-579: Is likely that the Parwar community is a continuation of the ancient merchant community of the region. The Parwars are divided into 12 gotras , each gotra is further divided into 12 shakhas (mura)s. Traditionally 4 of the shakhas of the grandparents of the boy, and four of the shakhas of the grandparents of the girl were required to be distinct for a marriage to take place. Thus the Parwars were sometimes termed ashta-shaha. There were once several social divisions among
832-489: Is possible that the grammarians sought to codify only the language of the earliest classics of the Prakrit literature, such as the Gaha Sattasai . Another explanation is that the extant Prakrit manuscripts contain scribal errors. Most of the surviving Prakrit manuscripts were produced in a variety of regional scripts during 1300–1800 CE. It appears that the scribes who made these copies from the earlier manuscripts did not have
884-675: Is published by Jaina Sangha, Mathura and distributed by Hindi Granth Karyalay, Mumbai . Popular English Translations are :- Satkhandagama : Dhavala (Jivasthana) Satparupana-I (Enunciation of Existence-I) An English Translation of Part 1 of the Dhavala Commentary on the Satkhandagama of Acarya Puṣpadanta & Bhūtabali Dhavala commentary by Acarya Virasena English tr. by Prof. Nandlal Jain, Ed. by Prof. Ashok Jain, ISBN 8186957472 , ISBN 9788186957479 Prakrit Prakrit ( / ˈ p r ɑː k r ɪ t / )
936-521: Is the predominant language of the ancient Indian literature. Several modern scholars, such as George Abraham Grierson and Richard Pischel , have asserted that the literary Prakrit does not represent the actual languages spoken by the common people of ancient India. This theory is corroborated by a market scene in Uddyotana's Kuvalaya-mala (779 CE), in which the narrator speaks a few words in 18 different languages: some of these languages sound similar to
988-511: The Kasāyapāhuda were in a state of neglect and were not studied or made available to the community. With the support of Manikchand of Sholapur during 1896 to 1920, the Moodbidrai manuscript were transcribed in modern Nagari and Kannad scripts, without the knowledge of the Moodbidri temple trustees. In the 20th century, Dr. Hiralal Jain was one of the first few lay scholars who decided to retrieve
1040-462: The Satkhandāgama is that it is believed that the 5 pada Namokāra Mantra is believed to have been composed by Ācārya Puṣpadanta as the mangalacarana (opening verse, often an invocation to god for the successful completion of the text) to the Satkhandāgama . Before this work, only the 2 pada Namokāra Mantra has been found in inscriptions. Hence, there is reason to believe that Ācārya Puṣpadanta
1092-523: The Śrūta Pañcami , a day when all the Jain scriptures are venerated. The Ṣaṭkhaṅḍāgama , the first āgama , is also called the "Prathama Śrūta-Skandha", while the Pancha Paramāgama by Kundakunda are referred to as the second āgama or Dvitiya Śrūta-Skandha. It is said to have been based on oral teaching of the Digambara monk , acharya Dharasena (1st Century CE). According to the tradition, alarmed at
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#17330851879391144-562: The Digambar Jain tradition. Parwar usually preferred their marriage within community. There are 12 Gotra in Parwar community. Each Gotra has 12 Moor (lineages). A marriage within the same gotra or lineage are not allowed. Traditionally a marriage within any of the 8 branches (the moor of boy or girl, mother's family, father's mother's family etc) was not permitted and hence the community was termed ashta-shakha . A number of Jain scholars have belonged to this community, including Tarana Swami ,
1196-500: The Jain canonical literature, stories about Jain figures, moral stories, hymns and expositions of Jain doctrine. Prakrit is also the language of some Shaiva tantras and Vaishnava hymns. Besides being the primary language of several texts, Prakrit also features as the language of low-class men and most women in the Sanskrit stage plays . American scholar Andrew Ollett traces the origin of
1248-642: The Jayadhavala commentary by adding another 20,000 shlokas. Both of the commentaries use both Sanskrit and Prakit. Jayadhavala was finished during the rule of the Rashtrakuta ruler Amoghavarsha in 838 AD (or Jagatunga according to some scholars) The palm leaf writings of this long work, were preserved in the Digambara holy place of Shravanabelagola at the Siddhanta Basadi. Later they were shifted to Mudabidri ,
1300-800: The Parwar (also spelt as Paravara) community. The map of districts having large number of Parwar Jains in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh is shown below. A number of inscriptions mentiong the community have been found in the region adjacent to the Betwa river, which flows on the border of MP and UP. In the older inscriptions they are called Paurapatta or Puravada. The oldest inscriptions include those found at Vidisha (948 CE), Pachrai (1065 CE), Aharji (1152, 1153), Chanderi (VS 1252,13450), Sironj (VS 1299, 1316), Narwar (VS 1319). A long inscription at Deogarh of VS 1493 mentions Lakshaman Singhai and his large family, who installed an idol of Lord Shantinath under
1352-471: The Parwars, which are no longer significant. Some Parwars follow Taran Panth and are called Samaiya, because Taran Swami based his teachings on Samayasara of Acharya Kundakunda. Parwar Sabha was founded in 1917 at Ramtek, after the Bundelkhandiya Jain Sabha broke into community groups. In the 1924 convention, it was proposed that only four shakhas be considered for marriage, but the proposal
1404-460: The Sanskrit Kavya to Prakrit poems. Some of the texts that identify their language as Prakrit include: The languages that have been labeled "Prakrit" in modern times include the following: Not all of these languages were actually called "Prakrit" in the ancient period. Dramatic Prakrits were those that were used in dramas and other literature. Whenever dialogue was written in a Prakrit,
1456-666: The common people – as well as the converse influence of Sanskrit on the Prakrits, gave Prakrits progressively higher cultural prestige. Mirza Khan's Tuhfat al-hind (1676) characterizes Prakrit as the language of "the lowest of the low", stating that the language was known as Patal-bani ("Language of the underground") or Nag-bani ("Language of the snakes"). Among modern scholars, Prakrit literature has received less attention than Sanskrit. Few modern Prakrit texts have survived in modern times, and even fewer have been published or attracted critical scholarship. Prakrit has been designated as
1508-638: The earliest forms of Pāli, the language of the Theravāda Buddhist canon. The most prominent form of Prakrit is Ardhamāgadhı̄, associated with the ancient kingdom of Magadha, in modern Bihar, and the subsequent Mauryan Empire. Mahāvı̄ra, the last tirthankar of 24 tirthankar of Jainism, was born in Magadha, and the earliest Jain texts were composed in Ardhamāgadhı̄. Almost all the native prākrit grammarians identify prākṛta to be named so because they originate in
1560-580: The family of Shrimant Seth Sitabray Gulabray. But is now published by the Jaina Sanskriti Sanrakshak Sangh in Solapur and distributed by Hindi Granth Karyalay , Mumbai. The Mahādhavalā commentary and Hindi translation, running into 7 Volumes, is published from New Delhi by Bharatiya Jñanapitha . The Kasāyapāhuda along with the JayaDhavalā commentary and Hindi translation, running into 16 Volumes,
1612-402: The few languages suitable for composition of literature. Mirza Khan's Tuhfat al-hind (1676) names Prakrit among the three kinds of literary languages native to India, the other two being Sanskrit and the vernacular languages. It describes Prakrit as a mixture of Sanskrit and vernacular languages, and adds that Prakrit was "mostly employed in the praise of kings, ministers, and chiefs". During
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1664-520: The first 177 Sutras and his colleague Bhūtabali wrote the rest, the total being 6000 Sutras. Achrya Virasena received the ancient Shatkhandagama and Kashyaprabhrita texts through the lineage tradition. At Vatagram, he wrote a 72,000 shloka commentary on Shatkhandagama (known as Dhavala and the last section called Mahadhavala) and 20,000 shloka commentary the Kashyaprabhrita (known as Jayadhavala). After he died his disciple Acharya Jinasena completed
1716-597: The founder of Taran Panth and the Bhattarakas of Chanderi . Osho was born in the Samaiya section of this community. Also, Pandit Sumerchand Diwakar, Pandit Nathuram Premi , Dr Hiralal Jain, Dr Mahendrakumar Nyayacarya, Pandit Phulacandra Shastri, Pandit Hiralal Jain, Pandit Balacandra Shastri, Pandit Jaganmohanlal Shastri, Pandit Devakinandan Nayak, Swami Satyabhakta , Wardha, philosopher, founder of Satya Samaj (1899–1998) many other illustrious scholars of Jainism were born in
1768-416: The full grammar of Ardhamagadhi first, and then define the other grammars with relation to it. For this reason, courses teaching 'Prakrit' are often regarded as teaching Ardhamagadhi. Medieval grammarians such as Markandeya (late 16th century) describe a highly systematized Prakrit grammar, but the surviving Prakrit texts do not adhere to this grammar. For example, according to Vishvanatha (14th century), in
1820-601: The gradual dwindling of scriptural knowledge, he summoned two monks, Puṣpadanta and Bhūtabali to a cave, known as Candra Guphā , or the Moon Cave, his retreat in mount Girnar , Gujarat , and communicated what he remembered out of originally vast extent of sacred Jain writings. He taught them portions of the fifth Aṅga Viāhapannaṭṭi (Vyākhyā Prajñāpti) and of the twelfth Aṅga Diṭṭhivāda (Dṛṣṭivāda). These were subsequently reduced to writing in Sutra form by his pupils. Puṣpadanta composed
1872-578: The independent development of these languages, often separated from the history of Sanskrit by wide divisions of caste , religion , and geography . The broadest definition uses the term "Prakrit" to describe any Middle Indo-Aryan language that deviates from Sanskrit in any manner. American scholar Andrew Ollett points out that this unsatisfactory definition makes "Prakrit" a cover term for languages that were not actually called Prakrit in ancient India, such as: According to some scholars, such as German Indologists Richard Pischel and Oskar von Hinüber ,
1924-553: The languages spoken in modern India; but none of them resemble the language that Uddyotana identifies as "Prakrit" and uses for narration throughout the text. The local variants of Apabhramsha evolved into the modern day Indo-Aryan vernaculars of South Asia. Literary Prakrit was among the main languages of the classical Indian culture. Dandin 's Kavya-darsha ( c. 700 ) mentions four kinds of literary languages: Sanskrit, Prakrit, Apabhramsha , and mixed. Bhoja 's Sarasvati-Kanthabharana (11th century) lists Prakrit among
1976-464: The modern Prakrit grammar. Prakrita Prakasha, a book attributed to Vararuchi , summarizes various Prakrit languages. Prakrit literature was produced across a wide area of South Asia. Outside India, the language was also known in Cambodia and Java. Literary Prakrit is often wrongly assumed to have been a language (or languages) spoken by the common people, because it is different from Sanskrit, which
2028-477: The purity of the scripture. In a period of twenty years, the Satkhandāgama, along with its massive Dhavalā and Mahādhavalā commentaries was edited from the original palm leaf manuscripts and published after very careful proof reading in consultation with senior Jaina scholars like Pt. Nathuram Premi and Pt. Devakinandan Nayak. The Satkhandāgama , as the name suggests, is a scripture in six parts. The six parts are: Satkhandāgama postulates karma theory , using
2080-414: The reader would also be provided with a Sanskrit translation. The phrase "Dramatic Prakrits" often refers to three most prominent of them: Shauraseni Prakrit , Magadhi Prakrit , and Maharashtri Prakrit . However, there were a slew of other less commonly used Prakrits that also fall into this category. These include Prachya, Bahliki, Dakshinatya, Shakari, Chandali, Shabari, Abhiri, Dramili, and Odri. There
2132-431: The rule of Ramagupta date to about 365 AD. The Udaigiri cave Parshvanath inscription mentioning the lineage of Bhadranvaya is dated to 425 AD. The great Shantinath temple at Deogarh was built before 862 CE, suggesting a prosperous Jain community in this region. According to Mahavamsa , Devi, the wife of Maurya ruler Ashoka was a daughter of a merchant of Vidisha , whose son Mahinda took Buddhism to Sri Lanka. It
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2184-428: The source language (prakṛti) which is Sanskrit . Thus the name prākṛta indicates that they depend on Sanskrit for their origin and are not themselves the prakṛti (or originary languages, originating independent of Sanskrit): The dictionary of Monier Monier-Williams (1819–1899), and other modern authors, however, interpret the word in the opposite sense: "the most frequent meanings of the term prakṛta , from which
2236-576: The supervision of Bhattaraka Devendrakirti of Balatkara Gana . It is probably the first mention of the Singhai (or Sanghapati ) title in the region. Some authors have proposed a historic connection between the Parwar and the Porwad communities. Jainism had a continuous presence in this region since antiquity. Jainism was flourishing during the Gupta period at Vidisha region. The Durjanpur idols installed during
2288-494: The term "Prakrit" refers to a smaller set of languages that were used exclusively in literature: According to Sanskrit and Prakrit scholar Shreyansh Kumar Jain Shastri and A. C. Woolner , the Ardhamagadhi (or simply Magadhi ) Prakrit, which was used extensively to write the scriptures of Jainism , is often considered to be the definitive form of Prakrit, while others are considered variants of it. Prakrit grammarians would give
2340-427: The word "prakrit" is derived, are "original, natural, normal" and the term is derived from prakṛti , "making or placing before or at first, the original or natural form or condition of anything, original or primary substance". Modern scholars have used the term "Prakrit" to refer to two concepts: Some modern scholars include all Middle Indo-Aryan languages under the rubric of 'Prakrits', while others emphasize
2392-530: The works written by Jain authors do not necessarily belong to an exclusively Jain history, and do not show any specific literary features resulting from their belief in Jainism. Therefore, the division of Prakrit literature into Jain and non-Jain categories is no longer considered tenable. Under the Mauryan Empire various Prakrits enjoyed the status of royal language. Prakrit was the language of Emperor Ashoka who
2444-469: The āgamas, and bring to light with systematic editing and proof reading. With the help of his scholar friends like Pandit Nathuram Premi and Jamunaprasada Sub-Judge, he raised the funds to publish the āgamas, and set out to extricate the āgamas from Mudabidri, where the original handwritten Prakrit manuscripts had lain for centuries, unstudied. Dr Hiralal Jain, Pt Nathuram Premi and Jamunaprasada sub-judge together managed to convince Seth Sitabray Gulabray,
2496-507: Was a strict structure to the use of these different Prakrits in dramas. Characters each spoke a different Prakrit based on their role and background; for example, Dramili was the language of "forest-dwellers", Sauraseni was spoken by "the heroine and her female friends", and Avanti was spoken by "cheats and rogues". Maharashtri and Shaurseni Prakrit were more common and were used in literature extensively. Some 19th–20th century European scholars, such as Hermann Jacobi and Ernst Leumann , made
2548-727: Was defeated. A newsletter Parwar Bandhu was published during 1929–1944. A "Parwar Directory" was published in 1924 which included population data, according to which the Parwar population then was 48,074. The community resided in 1438 towns and villages with largest population in Sagar , Jhansi , Jabalpur , Damoh and Tikamgarh districts. The largest number are in Lalitpur (1122 in 1924), Mungawali (481), Khaniadhana (320), Pachhar (Ashoknagar Isagarh), Mandawara (304), Sivni (358), Sagar (595), Bamora (374), Khurai (503), Bina-Itawa (358), Pindarai (Mandla 314), Jabalpur (1058) and Tikamgarh . This puts
2600-454: Was downfall in these capabilities and so Ācārya Puṣpadanta and Bhūtabali penned down the teachings of Mahavira in Ṣaṭkhaṅḍāgama . Therefore the Ṣaṭkhaṅḍāgama is the most revered Digambara text that has been given the status of āgama . The importance of the Ṣaṭkhaṅḍāgama to the Digambaras can be judged by the fact that, the day its Dhavalā commentary was completed, it is commemorated on
2652-463: Was patron of Buddhism. Prakrit languages are said to have held a lower social status than Sanskrit in classical India. In the Sanskrit stage plays , such as Kalidasa 's Shakuntala , lead characters typically speak Sanskrit, while the unimportant characters and most female characters typically speak Prakrit. While Prakrits were originally seen as 'lower' forms of language, the influence they had on Sanskrit – allowing it to be more easily used by
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#17330851879392704-575: Was the first person to compose the 5 pada Namokāra Mantra . The Satkhandāgama is a highly complex work, adumbrating the Jaina karma siddhānta . Although it is a Digambara work, it is seen as an authoritative work on the Jaina karma theory by all Jains. The first five parts of the Satkhandāgama along with the Dhavalā commentary and Hindi translation, running into 16 Volumes, was first published from Vidisha itself, by
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