Klaus Bruhn's "Commentary" on the Jaina-Concordance and Chandrabhal B. Tripathi's Notebooks at the British Library

Flügel, Peter

Abstract

The British Library holds a precious resource for Jaina Studies that is not recorded in the Catalogue of the Jain Manuscripts nor in any other reference source. The aim of this contribution to Nalini Balbir’s Festschrift is to make its existence more widely known. The hidden resource is the Jaina-Konkordanz, also known as Berliner Konkordanz, a card catalogue of 80 drawers in 8 cabinets, comprising a concordance of the Prakrit verses in the metrical works of the canonical and para-canonical Śvetāmbara and Digambara scriptures, for the purpose of discovering parallels. Only three short articles by Klaus Bruhn and Chandrabhal Tripathi bear witness of the aims, intellectual frames, problems, and outcomes of this ambitious project. The “Commentary on the Concordance” of Bruhn, published here for the first time, is an indispensable supplement to them, because it is almost impossible to use the card catalogue without it. As a quasi “user manual” it clearly describes the different components of the card catalogue, the Concordance Proper, Bhāṣya Concordance, Āvaśyaka Niryukti, and Pañcakalpa Bhāṣya, and the considerable amount of duplication between them, reflecting changing research agendas. The article assesses the continuing significance of this resource and on Chandrabhal Tripathi's related Notebooks at the British Library.

Citation

Flügel, P. (2025). Klaus Bruhn's "Commentary" on the Jaina-Concordance and Chandrabhal B. Tripathi's Notebooks at the British Library. In J. Petit, & G.-J. Pinault (Eds.), Praśasti: Studies in Indology Presented to Nalini Balbir by Colleagues, Students and Friends (207-219). Universitätsverlag Halle-Wittenberg

• Publication Date: Apr 15, 2025
• Deposit Date: May 23, 2025
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Pages: 207-219
• Series Title: Studia Indologica Universitatis Halensis
• Series Number: 29
• Book Title: Praśasti: Studies in Indology Presented to Nalini Balbir by Colleagues, Students and Friends
• ISBN: 9783869772929
• Keywords: Jaina Concordance, Prakrit verse, Śvetāmbara, Digambara, Siddhānta, Bhāṣya Concordance, Āvaśyaka Niryukti, Pañcakalpa Bhāṣya,Klaus Bruhn, Chandrabhal Tripathi, Bansidhar Bhatt, British Library