Lay Followers
The Library of Old Books
पुरानी पुस्तकों का भंडार · જૂનાં પુસ્તકોનો ભંડાર
Wooden boxes, red cloth, and pages older than anyone alive
- 4 min full story
- 2 min children's telling
- For all ages
Eleven year old Vrinda treats her school books carelessly, stepping over them and stuffing them into her bag. On Gyan Panchami her grandfather takes her to an old gyan bhandar, where a caretaker shows her books that have been loved for hundreds of years.
What it teaches Respect for knowledge Gyan Panchami Care
The opening of the children's telling
Vrinda did not look after her books. She dropped them on the floor. She stepped over them. Once, she even put her snack on top of one! "They are just books," she said.
On the special day of Gyan Panchami, her grandfather, Dadaji, took her on a little trip. They went to an old building next to a temple. It was called a gyan bhandar, a library of very old books.
Read the whole story See plans
To carry into the day
When we care for a book, we honour the knowledge it carries and everyone who gave it to us.
To talk about together
Which book in our home would you most like to look after, and how will you do it?
Retold for JainStory from the traditional narrative and checked against published Jain sources. Details vary between tellings.