SOAS Research Online

Abstract

This paper is an attempt to show how strong and diverse the presence of the Āgamas has always been and remains in Terāpanthin scholarship. It starts with the earliest phases of its history, exploring the writings of the founder Ācārya Bhikṣu and then those of Jayācārya, in periods when access to the scriptures was done through memorization and manuscripts, the search of which was a work in itself, and when the language of mediation was the vernacular (forms of Rajasthani). These works, which make use of vernacular literary forms, contain a number of precise references to Āgamic books and their sections, include occasional quotations, are retellings of canonical stories or form extensive vernacular commentaries (the joṛs). The Ācārya Tulsī - Ācārya Mahāprajña era, which is the focus of the remaining parts of the article, marks a new departure in the area of Śvetāmbara Āgamas with the decision and plan, started in 1954, to achieve a critical edition of the texts. Paratexts such as Āgam sampādan kī samasyāeṃ (1993) by Ācārya Mahāprajña, the 'Editorial' of Navasuttāṇi (2000), or Āgam sampādan kī yātrā by Muni Dulharāj (2011), one of the most active Terāpanthin monks in the area under investigation, provides a basis for the exploration, as they delineate problems, principles and guidelines for the project. It led to systematic achievements: critical editions of the 32 Āgamas regarded as authoritative by the Terāpanthin, but also of works going beyond this boundary, including for instance Prakrit exegetical literature (the niryuktis and bhāṣyas), numerous Hindi translations, elaboration of tools in the form of word-indexes (e.g., Āgamaśabdakośa) or of special dictionaries gleaning material from the Āgamas (e.g., dictionary of etymologies and synonyms, dictionaries of plants, animals and musical instruments). It is significant that the Āgamic work achieved by the Terāpanth is multi-handed. Ācārya Tulsī's inspiration had an immense impact on Muni Nathmal/Āc. Mahāprajña. But it has also stimulated other members of the order, including a number of nuns and samaṇīs whose contributions to the field are fundamental.