what was the contribution of buddism and jainism in the field of art and literatute?
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CONTRIBUTION OF JAINISM TO INDIAN CULTURE
It is evident that Jainism is an ancient religion of India and that right from hoary antiquity to the present day it has continued to flourish, along with other religions, in different parts of India. Jainas, the followers of Jainism, are, therefore, found all over India from ancient times. The Jainas are also known everywhere for the strict observance of their religious practices in their daily lives. That is why Jainism could survive in India for the last so many centuries. The Jainas, in this way, succeeded in continuing to exist as devout followers of a distinct religion in India.
But this is not the only distinguishing feature of Jainas in India. In fact, the most outstanding characteristic of Jainas in India is their very impressive record of contributions to Indian culture. In comparison with the limited and small population of Jainas. the achievements of Jainas in enriching the various aspects of Indian culture are really great.
LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE
Perhaps the most creditable contribution of Jainas is in the field of languages and literature. It is quite evidence that right from the Vedic period two different currents of thought and ways of life known as (a) Brahman culture and (b) Sramana culture are prevalent in India The Sramana culture is mainly represented by the Jainas and the Buddhists and of them the Jainas were the first to propagate that culture. That is why from ancient times we have the Sramana literature besides the Brahmanic literature. The characteristic features of the Sramana literature are as follows: It disregards the system of castes and Asramas; its heroes are, as a rule, not Gods and Rule, but kings or merchants or even Sudras. The subjects of poetry taken up by it are not Brahmanic myths and legends, but popular tales: fairy stories, fables and parables. It likes to insist on the misery and sufferings of samsara and it teaches a morality of compassion and ahimsa, quite distinct from the ethics of Brahmanism with its ideals of the great sacrificers and generous supporter of the priests, and of strict adherence to the caste system.
The authors of this Sramana literature have contributed enormously to the religious, ethical, poetical, and scientific literature of ancient India. A close examination of the vast religious literature of the Jainas has been made by M. Winternitz in his 'History of Indian Literature'. In this masterly survey of ancient Indian literature, M. Winternitz has asserted that the Jainas were foremost in composing various kinds of narrative literature like puranas, charitras, kathas, prabandhas, etc. Besides a very extensive body of poetical narratives, the non-canonical literature of the Jainas consists of an immense number of commentaries and independent works on dogma, ethics. and monastic discipline. They also composed legends of saints and works on ecclesiastical history. As fond of story-telling, the Jainas were good story-tellers themselves, and have preserved for us numerous Indian tales that otherwise would have been lost. Kavyas and mahakavyas too, of renowned merit have been composed by Jaina poets. Lyrical and didactic poetry are also well represented in the literature of the Jainas.
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Jainism has also rendered valuable contribution to the growth of vernacular literature. While the Buddhist and the Brahmans preached in Pali and Sanskrit, the Jains preached in the language of the people. Most of the Jain literature was written in Prakriti. Large literature was produced in the vernacular language also.
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