The present collection of Essays in Jain Philosophy and Religion contains contributions of world-acclaimed scholars in jain studies. As a through and critical research work in the field of Jaina exploration of the history and background of the exchange of ideas between the Jainas and other systems of thought in India, the book will prove to be a rare document. Each of the four main sections of the present volume pertains to an important aspect within Jaina studies.

The sensuous human form-elegant and eye-catching-is the dominant feature of premodern Indian art. From the powerful god Shiva, greatest of all yogis and most beautiful of all beings, to stone dancers twisting along temple walls, the body in Indian art is always richly adorned. Alankara (ornament) protects the body and makes it complete and attractive; to be unornamented is to invite misfortune. In The Body Adorned, Vidya Dehejia, who has dedicated her career to the study of Indian art, draws on the literature of court poets, the hymns of saints and acharyas, and verses from inscriptions to illuminate premodern India's unique treatment of the sculpted and painted form. She focuses on the coexistence of sacred and sensuous images within the common boundaries of Buddhist, Jain, and Hindu "sacred spaces," redefining terms like "sacred" and "secular" in relation to Indian architecture. She also considers the paradox of passionate poetry, in which saints praised the sheer bodily beauty of the divine form, and nonsacred Rajput painted manuscripts, which freely inserted gods into the earthly realm of the courts. By juxtaposing visual and literary sources, Dehejia demonstrates the harmony between the sacred and the profane in classical Indian culture. Her synthesis of art, literature, and cultural materials not only generates an all-inclusive picture of the period but also revolutionizes our understanding of the cultural ethos of premodern India.

The Indian system of philosophy is the store-house which has supplied spiritual food, through the ages, to all the nations of the world. Other teachings, whatever they be, are but the sauces and the spices, useful so long as this philosophy supplies the spiritual inspiration. Yogasutra of Patanjali is divided into four chapters. It comprises aphorisms on the system of yoga. The aphorisms relate to the subject of Spiritual Absorption (Samadhi), Means of Practice (Sadhana), Accomplishments (Vibhuti) and Emancipation (Kaivalya). To expound further: Ch. I explains the grades of Spiritual Action for the restraint of the exhibitive operations of the mind. Until that is done no yogic achievement is possible. Ch. II deals with the process of Material Action which can attenuate the gross impurities that have entered into the mind. Ch. III pertains to the Dissolutionary Change of the worldly life by means of Samyama. Ch. IV explains the working of threefold action— the present action, the stored-up action and the regulated fruitive action. It teaches how the individual soul, released from the bond of actions, realizes the Reality of the Supreme Being wherein the individual souls merge into Brahman as rivers do into the ocean. The entire system of Yoga, in all its categories, is nowhere better treated than in this book.

Kurt Titze invites the reader, after acquainting him or her with the main tenets of the world`s classical religion of non-violence, to join him on a fascinating pilgrimage. The past glories of India have been and still are a favourite subject in books and films. In this book with its 350 illustrations spread over 280 pages, Kurt titze enfolds a sequence of glories which have been kept alive to the present-day. The aim of this book is to entice the reader to ask his way to spots and sites that are not mentioned in tourist guide books. To the Digambara Meru temple in Old Delhi, for example, or to the Veerayatan Ashram on the outskirts of Rajgir run by Jaina nuns, or to the rock-cut twenty-four Tirthankaras near Gingee in Tamilnadu. That an increasing number of people who pick up this book may do so instead of climbing the ramparts of yet another fort or of gazing at yet another collection of horrifying weapons.