Life in Ancient India as Depicted in the Jain Canons, with Commentaries: An Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey c2.1

c2.1

When I began to study the Jain canons way back in 1939, I had no idea of the difficulties that lay on my path. But at the very outset, I found that a large number of canonical texts were either out of print or were not easily available for study. For, whatever canons are available, are hardly adequately edited, and have no index. Very few canons have been translated into English, and some of the important ones are still in manuscript form. However, I plunged myself into the deep ocean of the Jain Āgamas and I struck at the waves of undiscovered knowledge. I completed the first reading of the canons, and found many difficult passages unintelligible due to corrupt texts.