namah sri varddhamanaya nirdhutakalilatmane
salokanam trilokanam yadvidya darpanayate
Dear friends,
Shubh Dipavali
Mangalamaya Nava Varsha ki shubhakamanayen!
RATNAKARANDA SRAVAKACARA (Sanskrit-Hindi)
By Acarya Samantabhadra
Translated into Hindi with 2 Appendices by Dr. Jaykumar Jalaj
Preface by Dr. Paul Dundas
Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 3
2006 215 x 140 mm 48 pp
ISBN 81-88769-04-5
EAN 9788188769049
Softcover Rs. 40
A feature of Jain scriptures is the importance accorded to the conduct of the laity. One of the first such works is Acarya Samantabhadra's "Ratnakaranda Sravakacara". Written in the early centuries of the Common Era, it is an enduring masterpiece prescribing normative lay conduct. Its style is terse and to the point.
If the Jain doctrine has survived for the past two millennia after the death of the last ford maker Tirthankara Mahavira despite great socio political-upheavals and the fluctuating fortunes of the Jain community, credit should go to the innate correctness and relevance of the Tirthankaras' teachings of which the Ratnakaranda Sravakacara is a splendid example.
The Ratnakaranda Sravakacara occupies a special and revered place in the hierarchy of Digambara scriptural tradition. It has been a defining authority on ideal Jain lay conduct for the past two millennia.
Comprising of 150 slokas, this work has ensured Samantabhadra's place in Jain history as it serves as an inspiration to Jains even today, more than two millennia after it was composed.
Since the study of the classical languages Sanskrit and Prakrit is not very prevalent in the Jain lay community today, the Jain community has largely learnt of the Ratnakaranda Sravakacara through sermons by the monks and learned lay Pandits.
More than once, the Ratnakaranda Sravakacara has been translated into Hindi in the 20th century. But the translations have tended to be so weighed down by the Sanskrit mulapatha and the communicative limitations of the translator, that very often the Hindi translation is well nigh incomprehensible to all but the scholars, who could read the work in its original Sanskrit.
There came a point in time wherein the Ratnakaranda Sravakacara was being read less and less by those whom it was written for ? the sravakas!
This translation is an attempt to rectify this situation. This is why we requested Dr. Jaykumar Jalaj, a best-selling poet, writer and an independent scholar of Jainism to translate afresh the Ratnakaranda Sravakacara. He has attempted to translate the mula Sanskrit slokas in lucid Hindi in a manner that will empower the layperson to read this great work on his/her own.
Jalaj has succeeded in producing a Hindi translation that is at once incisive, does not deviate from the original text is succinct and to the point.
Jalaj does not try to dazzle his readers with difficult tatsama words or by needlessly launching into great detours from the text to showcase his own views.
He does not come in the way of Acarya Samantabhadra and his 21st century readers. He is merely a facilitator between them.
This edition boasts of a brilliant Preface by Dr. Paul Dundas, the famed Scottish Indologist and leading authority on Prakrit, Sanskrit and Jainism.
The book is helped by impeccable proof reading and immaculate production values. For which, the publisher would like to express his sincere thanks to Shri Girish Jani, Sahityacarya who patiently went through all the proofs.
The book also has two appendices, including an alphabetical Slokanukramanika.
Truly a path breaking venture, it is hoped that this book will revitalise the tradition svadhyaya by the members of the lay community.
The Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series has been named after Pandit Nathuramji Premi, a deeply insightful scholar of Jainism; perceptive critic of Indian literature and history; the Bhishma Pitamah of Hindi publishing and pioneering publisher and editor of Jain sacred literature.
This series aims to bring out accurate, well researched scholarly studies or translations of classic Jain works in Prakrit / Sanskrit. This series will attempt to present the most important Jain scriptures in modern languages ensuring at all times immaculate proof reading and excellent production values.
Forthcoming in this series: Acarya Pujyapada's "Samadhitantra" and the "Vyavahara Bhasya" ed. by Prof. Willem Bolle
vidusamanucaro,
Manish
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