Charlotte Krause her Life and Literature

Author(s): Shreeprakash Pandey
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith

Page 15

[ viii
]
scholar of Jainism and Jaina literature, and a promising academic career awaited her at the University of Leipzig. She chose, however, the career of ahirsā and aparigraha. Living the life of a Sadhvi in India, she pursued the study of Jainism, both as a practitioner and an academic. She wrote extensively and in several languages - German, English, Hindi and Gujarati — on ethics, rituals, narratives and on historical and cultural aspects of Jainism.
This volume deals with the life and work of this remarkable Sādhvi and Viduși. It gathers in one place the various writings of Charlotte Krause. It also contains a sensitive account of her life by Dr. Luitgard Soni, who has been studying the life and work of Charlotte Krause for some years and who has visited all the places in India connected with her life.
The credit for assiduously collecting Charlotte Krause's valuable writings from diverse sources and bringing them together in one volume goes to Shri Hazarimull Banthia. In his constant endeavour to promote the study of Jaina Vidyā, in his sponsorship of numerous academic institutions and activities, in the warmhearted help and encouragement which he offers to scholars, Shri Banthiaji exemplifies the life of true śrāvaka. He strongly believes that India owes a debt of gratitude to those foreign scholars who devoted their lives to the study of our languages and culture. In this context, one is particularly impressed by Banthiaji efforts in keeping alive the memory of the Italian scholar Luigi Pio Tessitori and the German scholar Charlotte Krause. This volume then is an act of śraddhā to the memory of Charlotte Krause. It is a privilege for me to be associated — through this Foreword — with this laudable venture.
S. R. Sarma Formerly Professor of Sanskrit
Aligarh Muslim University