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ception of Alsdorf, no western researcher has attempted to consider the question of the original language of the Jain scriptures, so that it is very much to the credit of Indian scholars that they are beginning to address this subject in a critical and concerted manner. The first valuable results of this line of investigation are familiar to me from your Prācin Ardhamāgadhi ki Khoj Mem and I would hope that the seminar leads to the emergence and dissemination of further knowledge about this fascinating subject. Only by challenging longheld presuppositions will scholarship on ancient texts be advanced. My best wishes for a successful and fruitful seminar.
Yours sincerely,
Paul Dundas Senior Lecturer in Sanskrit University of Edinburgh, England.
SOAS University of London Thornhaugh Street, Russel Square, LONDON WCIH OXG.
16-4-97 Dear Prakrit Jain Vidya Vikas Fund,
Thank you for informing me of the Seminar on the Original Language of the Jain Canonical Texts that is scheduled to take place shortly in Ahmedabad. You are to be congratulated on the selection and range of topics, and on the timing of the conference at this important juncture in Jain Studies.
My colleagues and I hope that, by subsequent publication of the proceedings, it will encourage and facilitate more widespread study, publicaiton, and discussion of the primary manu
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