A centuries-old philosophical tradition can remain alive only when someone, somewhere, opens a book and begins to ask questions. At a time when the Government of India’s Gyan Bharatam Mission is drawing renewed attention to the preservation, digitisation, and wider accessibility of India’s vast manuscript heritage, the simple act of reading acquires a larger significance.
Preservation, however, does not end with documenting and protecting texts; their deeper purpose is realised when they reach readers, classrooms, and new generations of learners. A manuscript or book acquires a continuing life when it is read, discussed, and brought into conversation with meaningful questions.
In Assam, this journey from preserved knowledge to new learning is taking a modest but meaningful form. Eleven undergraduate students in the Department of Philosophy, Nagaon University, have explored different aspects of Jain philosophy as part of their sixth-semester dissertation work under my supervision, drawing on books made available by PravchanPariwar Charitable Trust, Surat, and engaging in online interactions with Jain spiritual teachers.
Jain philosophical literature represents a rich intellectual heritage encompassing ethics, logic, metaphysics, and epistemology, alongside the influential principles of non-violence (ahimsa) and the many-sided approach to truth (anekantavada). These works do not merely record a religious tradition; they constitute a significant aspect of India’s philosophical heritage. Making such literature accessible is therefore more than safeguarding the past—it gives learners an opportunity to encounter, question, and engage with a vital strand of Indian knowledge traditions.
It is in this context that the work of PravchanPariwar Charitable Trust becomes significant. Established in 2023, the Trust works to promote Jain literature, education, and knowledge dissemination through books, publishing, and library-related initiatives.
By generously making Jain books and learning resources available, the Trust helps take philosophical literature beyond the confines of specialised collections and into spaces where it can be read, discussed, and reflected upon. Its wider initiatives, including plans for a library-cum-reading room and digital educational content, further open avenues for Jain knowledge to reach contemporary readers and learners. Such circulation may appear simple, but it is an important form of cultural preservation.
The significance of this access becomes particularly visible when the books reach a classroom and begin to generate questions. At Nagaon University, the eleven students have approached Jain thought through different dissertation topics, turning the availability of Jain literature into an opportunity for sustained academic inquiry. Their topics range from tri-ratna, anekantavada, and syadvada to ahimsa, Jain ecology, and questions of feminism, reflecting both the breadth of Jain philosophy and the diverse questions through which young researchers are beginning to approach it.
Their work brings classical ideas into the setting of an undergraduate classroom, where questions about ethics, the environment, pluralism, and human relationships can be examined through the resources of Jain thought. Barasha, one of the students, found contemporary relevance in Jain ethics: “I have learned how principles like ahimsa and aparigraha can guide us towards a more sustainable and compassionate relationship with nature.”
For these students, the books are not simply supplementary reading; they have become working resources for understanding concepts, developing questions, and shaping their individual research projects. Access to literature thus becomes a starting point for reading, discussion, and independent student research.
The engagement, however, did not remain confined to books. Through online interactions with Jain spiritual teachers—Shaheb Ji and Sadhvi Ji, associated with PravchanPariwar Charitable Trust—the students could raise questions arising from their reading and dissertation work, clarify philosophical concepts, and discuss issues that had caught their curiosity. Their questions were warmly received, and the teachers encouraged their inquisitiveness and engagement with the tradition.
Tina, one of the students, recalled an online interaction in which Param Pujya Charitraratna Maharaj Saheb was one of the speakers alongside other Jain spiritual teachers: “Their patient and thoughtful responses helped clear many of our doubts and gave us a deeper understanding that could not be gained from books alone.”
For a university classroom in Assam, such exchanges show how books and digital connections can bring an intellectual tradition closer to young learners, even across considerable geographical distance.
The larger significance of this experience becomes clearer in the context of the Gyan Bharatam Mission. Preserving India’s manuscript heritage is essential, but preservation achieves its fuller purpose when knowledge remains accessible and continues to be read, interpreted, and researched by succeeding generations.
The experience in Assam offers a small yet tangible example of this larger journey. For the eleven students, that journey has taken a simple but meaningful form: a text leads to reading, reading leads to questions, questions lead to research, and research opens the possibility of new knowledge.
Keeping India’s intellectual heritage alive, therefore, is not only about protecting what has come down from the past; it is also about creating opportunities for young minds to encounter it, question it, and carry it forward.
Ramala Sarma is an Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Nagaon University.