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(xii)
The Bhagavati Sūtra has a philosophical content of a high degree but it has also many anticipations of modern science. To note one or two, there is a complete anticipation of the atomic theory in the Sutra, as there is an exhaustive analysis of matter. There are many other things relevant to Mathematics, Physics, Cosmology, Biology, Astronomy, etc. But this rich treasure we left behind in the past and managed to forget all about it. For centuries, therefore, we did not know that we had had such a rich heritage. But thanks to the pioneering work of the western Orientalists and Indologists, Indology as a branch of knowledge has already carved a place for itself, and during the past half a century, even Jainology is striving hard to take shape. It is heartening that Jainology now attracts scholars all over the world, and important works on Jaina canonical texts are coming up very fast. But what has not happened is that we have not yet been able to pick up the thread from where we dropped it in the past and to give it a really 'big push'. Within a short time, the world at large, and this country in particular, is going to celebrate the 2500th anniversary of the nirvāṇa of Śramana Bhagavān Mahāvīra, and that would indeed be a great occasion for us to pick up the thread from where we dropped it and go further ahead. The Bhagavati Sūtra of the Jainas is not the only text of the kind that deals with science and philosophy. There are many others, mostly interlinked in kinship, the Pannavaṇā, the Jivabhigama, the Uvavãi, etc., which are deserving of our attention in matter of their re-presentation through a convenient medium. The present translation of the Bhagavatī Sūtra has been put up in the genuine expectation that in the next decade or so, Jaina scholarship will concentrate on translating all the important scientific works of the Jainas into English so that we, as well as scholars outside, may know where we really stand. Once we are able to take stock of our position, it may perhaps be easy for us to break our age-old stagnation.
