moksamargasya netaram bhettaram karmabhubhr?tam
jñataram visvatattvanam vande tadgunalabdhaye
 
Dear friends,
Jaya Jinendra
 
Winner of the Acarya Hemacandra award!
 
THE STORY OF PAESI (Prakrit – English)
Soul and Body in Ancient India: A Dialogue on Materialism in Ancient India
By Prof. Willem Bollée
Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 2
Published by Hindi Granth Karyalay, Mumbai
2005     245 x 160 mm     450 pp
81 88769 03 7     Hardcover     Rs. 795
 
The Story of Paesi or Paesi Kahanayam is a lively dialogue between the monk
Keshi and prince Paesi based on the Raiapasenia Agama.
 
Interestingly, the Paesi Kahanayam is the only larger legend common to both
Jain and Buddhist canonical literature. It is also found in the Dighanikaya.

 
The monk Keshi and the prince Paesi (Sanskrit – Pradeshi) discuss the
corporeality of the soul, whether it dies with the body or is distinct from
the
body. The prince is a materialist and argues in favour of the corporeality
of
the soul but the monk convinces him that the soul and body are distinct and
while the body is corporeal, the soul is eternal.
 
This dialogue is set in the 6th century BCE, the age of reflection on and
discussion of the soul. While the present literary form dates some centuries

later, the discussion is still as relevant today, after two millennia.
 
This edition contains the Prakrit text in Devanagari and Roman
transliteration, accompanied by an incisive English translation, exhaustive
notes and a
glossary.
 
(The arguments in this discussion reflect many ancient Indian realia (birth
rituals, diseases, etiquette, ethnic list of female servants, execution of
thieves,
regicide, the 72 professions, similes, etc.) which have been commented upon
in the notes.
 
The editor of this work, Professor Willem Bollée is a highly regarded
scholar
of Prakrit and Jain studies, having taught Indology at Heidelberg and
Bamberg
Universities in Germany. His earlier scholarly contributions to the field of
Jain
studies include:
 
“Studein zum Suyagada” in 2 volumes (German)
Studies in the Sutrakrtanga Agama
 
“Brhatkalpa Bhasya” in 3 volumes (English)
A Study of the Brhatkalpa Bhasya
 
Edited English translations of Walther Schubring’s “The Doctrine of the
Jainas”
and “Mahavira’s Words” along with Dr. Jayandra Soni
 
Professor Bollée is the recipient of the Acarya Hemacandra award for this
work, “The Story of Paesi”. He practices aparigraha and vegetarianism.
 
The Story of Paesi sets the standards of scholarly translations of Jain
sacred literature. It is a modern masterpiece and shall prove a fascinating
read for
those who are students of Indology, Religion, Psychology, Philosophy,
Anthropology and Indo-European Studies.
 
The book is very attractively published.
 
|| parasparopagraho jivanam ||
 
 Manish
 
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