Jaina Studies

Contents: Preface. Contributors. 1. On the composition of the Svetambara tract: Maranavibhatti-/Maranasamahi-Painnayam/Colette Caillat. 2. Woman in ancient Jain literature/J.R. Bhattacharyya. 3. Early Svetambara and Digambara Karma Literature: a comparison/Kristi L. Wiley. 4. Dharma and Adharma in Jain Ontology/Sin Fujinaga. 5. Anekantavada and conflict resolution/N.L. Jain. 6. Doctrinal passages of the Jain Ramayanas/Eva De Clercq. 7. The uses of narrative: Jinesvara Suri's: Kathakosaprakarana as polemical text/Paul Dundas. 8. Some features of Asadhara's Sahasranamastotra/Jean-Pierre Osier. 9. Autobiographies of Jain Monks and Nuns in the 20th century: a preliminary essay/Nalini Balbir. 10. The unknown Lonka: tradition and the cultural unconscious/Peter Flugel. Index.

"Interest for Jain studies has increased considerably in the last decades. Scholars will be thankful to the organizers of the 12th World Sanskrit conference who, for the first time in such a conference, planned a special panel on this field. The ten papers collected in this volume show the importance, abundance and variety of topics that can be considered.

Philological analysis still proves useful, whether it concentrates on one particular work or on clusters of texts. A study of the "strategy of narrative" and predication needs a historical approach, kavya literature lends itself to renewed and indepth interpretations. Finally the reader will observe the constant renewal of Jainism, as some new "literary genre" or a new sect are seen to have gained momentum in modern times." (jacket)