The completion of this epic-work inaugurated the establishment of 'Moortidevi Granthamala' named after the revered mother of late Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain. This was the beginning of the Moortidevi Granthamala, which has, since then been brought out, in scientifically edited form, rare works on Indian thought, culture and religion. These works are in Sanskrit, Prakrit, Pali, Apabhramsa, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi and English, covering subjects like religion, philosophy, logic, ethics, grammar, astrology, poetics etc. A distinctive feature of these publications has been to produce comparative linguistic and literary studies of our rich ancient lore.

The Moortidevi Granthamala has published so far 152 titles : 48 in Sanskrit, 23 in Prakrit, 22 in apabhramsa, 31 in Hindi, 16 in English, 6 in Pali, Tamil, Kannada etc. With the same objective in view, Bharatiya Jnanpith took over the Manikchandra Granthamala, which had published a series of critically edited Sanskrit and Prakrit texts from Mumbai. Some new additions have been made by the Jnanpith to the series subsequently.

The Kannada Granthamala was started to bring out classic works of Kannada with translation in modern Kannada to provide scholars with new horizons of research. The Jnanpith also undertook a survey of ancient manuscripts in Karnataka and published a catalogue of palm-leaf manuscripts, which continues to be a great help in research. Apart from these literary activities, the Jnanpith has undertaken studies on Ahimsa (non-violence). The importance of disseminating knowledge and information on this subject cannot be over-looked, particularly in present times, when the threat of a nuclear holocaust can no longer be described as imaginary. Work on an anthology of essays, containing the salient aspects of ahimsa in major religions practised in the country, is to be published soon.

Bharatiya Jnanpith is equally active in the field of Indian art and archaeology. Its Jaina Art and Architecture in three volumes, edited by the late Shri A. Ghosh, is a monumental work. Its literal translation into Hindi has also been brought out.



LOKODAYA GRANTHMALA