Doctoral Dissertations in Jaina and Buddhist Studies

Author(s): Sagarmal Jain, Arun Pratap Sinh
Publisher: P V Research Institute Varanasi

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INTRODUCTION Doctoral Dissertations in Jaina and Buddhist Studies edited and compiled by Dr. Sagarmal Jain, Director, P. V. Research Institute, fulfils a long-felt need in the area of Jaina and Buddhist Studies.
Recently some senior scholars had suggested to me to undertake such a work covering the area of Buddhist Studies in India. While I was thinking of collecting material-in fact I had suggested to my young colleagues in the Department to collect the data—I found that Dr. Sagarmal Jain had already collected the substantial material not only in the area of Buddhism but in Jainism also, thus covering the whole Śramanic tradition.
The importance of bibliographies, subject-indices, and guides to dissertations in the present world of ever-increasing and fast developing knowledge needs no emphasis. In the universities, we are not able to know where and what work has been done in the specialised areas. As there are no regular publications indicating the subjects on which the work has been completed or is being done, there is a lot of duplication. Many scholars are sinultaneously working on the same subject without any knowledge that the same area is being tapped elsewhere. Also they do not know what work has already been done on the theses they propose to write. This results in waste of energy and resources.
The present work will greatly help the researchers as well as those who are interested in knowing the areas covered so far in the discipline of Jaina and Buddhist Studies in Indian universities. The scholars can refer the books, and also visit the university libraries to consult the theses which are not published, correspond or personally meet the scholars on the basis of information supplied in this book.
Buddhist and Jaina studies are gradually finding their place in the Universities and also receiving adequate attention by scholars in India. No work on ancient India or Indology