A History of the Canonical Literature of the Jainas c8.7

c8.7

the composition does not go beyond 2550 years.¹ It is a pity that we do not possess even a list regarding the scriptures codified at the Valabhī council, convoked by Devarddhi Gaṇi. So our attempt, however serious and sincere it may be, to make a note of all these extinct works cannot yield the desired result. Even then it should be made so that we can have as least a glimpse of the works lost to us by this time. This endeavour of ours would have been surely facilitated, and the results we are going to arrive at would have been quite precise in case a scientific Catalogus catalogorum of *Jaina* manuscripts had been prepared and published by this time. In the absence of such a source, it now remains to examine the *Jaina* works wherein incidentally a loss of some work or works may have been noted; but owing to the want of sufficient time and free access to printed and unprinted works, a thorough investigation of these materials is not possible for the present writer. Even then an attempt is being made in this direction with the hope that it will act as a stimulus to others finally leading them to a complete success in view of the thorough investigation of this problem they may be inclined to carry out in near future.