________________
Prefatory
on some of the very dimly illuminated corners no fresh or further light could be cast. But a breakthrough has been made and the frontiers of the existing knowledge on this subject have been to an extent pushed forward. (After all, perfection in human endeavours and achievements is an impossible, and hence an unattainable, reality.)
If I feel grateful - and I most certainly do-to the scholars for their efforts and the thought-provoking contributions as also for their lively and evocative deliberations when the Seminar was on, the Management of the B.L. Institute of Indology, too, deserves full compliments not only for contemplating and supporting the Seminar but also for ideally carrying it out through all its stages and finally for making available the proceedings volume in print. (I must also admire their patience in seemingly interminable waiting for the edited version of the proceedings manuscript which was, for some of the reasons explained, delayed for so long at my end.) The zeal and active participation at the organizational level by Shri Narendra Prakash Jain, Shri Rajkumar Jain, Dr. Prem Singh, and Dr. Dhanesh Jain proved memorably effective. The staff of the B.L. Institute of Indology including its former member Ms. Aruna Anand wholeheartedly provided assistance at various levels for which the participants had nothing but admiration. And without the active and enthusiastic support of Shri Pratapbhai Bhogilal, the founder and Chairman of the B.L. Institute of Indology (who was present at the occasion of the inauguration of the Seminar), and its Advisory Committee, the Seminar could not have taken shape. Late Professor S.B. Deo, the former Director of BLI had lent substantial help in maintaining the liaison with the contributors.
xiii
The Seminar was held at the B.L. Institute from the 21st to 24th March 1987. The deliberations of the Seminar had begun with the blessings of Her Holiness, Āryä Śri Suvratăśriji, the chief disciple of the most revered late Mahattară Mrgāvatīśrīji. Dr. Kapila Vatsyayan had inaugurated this Seminar and her observations were indeed pertinent in the direction of the emphasis she laid on the "concept" side of the subject, and to the innate imperfection of our methodologies which often fail to lend insights in the underlying "Truth". I, for one, fully concede with this observation. In India, for long decades, the archaeological tradition of "material" investigations has dominated. The "idea" investigations done in the field of disciplines such as philosophy and linguistics and their highly perceptive and systematic procedures have been largely neglected in the field of Nirgranthist studies. However, "Truth" is a singularity which cannot be grasped in its totality by a mind which is not "omniscient". The only path that can be pursued is to lessen the degree of imperfection in knowledge fraction by fraction. And to that extent the Seminar can perhaps be said to have succeeded.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
