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XXI
even in small amount, are very much fruitful.
अरसमरूवमगंधं अव्वत्तं चेदणागुणमसदं । जाण अलिंगग्गहणं जीवमणिद्दिट्ठसंठाणं ।।
(Samayasaar - 49) Meaning: Soul is tasteless, invisible, odorless, without sound, imperceptible to sensory organs, without any definite shape, with consciousness attribute, and realizable not by any mark or symbol.
Professor Paras Mal Ji Agrawal has been devoting his time in writing translation and annotations of Samayasaar in English for the last many years. The first part of his work has been published in 2014 as a book entitled Soul Science (Part-1). It covers 144 stanzas out of total 415 stanzas. When that book came to my hands, I turned over a few pages, and felt extremely delighted. I liked it so much that I devoted a major portion of my time to that book and completed the first round of reading in less than two weeks. I became excited to receive the next part.
I am thankful to Dr. Agrawal for sending to me the manuscript of Part-2 for my feedback. I am again very much impressed. I find that as in Part-1, here also he focused on the subject matter in an extraordinary way. His scientific and logical approach is neither traditional nor monotonous. The presentation is nicely tuned to the demand of the present scientific age. He explains the contents in minimum possible words in a simple way without reducing the philosophical depth. By adding heart touching examples related to day-to-day life as well as science he has really added charm in the philosophical description that otherwise appears dry to many. I believe that a reader wishing to understand the hard core concepts of Jain philosophy will surely satiate his hunger here, and would move ahead in the direction of enlightenment.
Sachin Jain Teerthdham Mangalayatan Sasani (Aligarh) UP 204216