Doctoral Dissertations in Jaina and Buddhist Studies

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

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will be complete without tapping the sources in Buddhism and Jainism, the two most important traditions which have immensely influenced history, philosophy and also society in general in India. Buddhism even changed the course of history in some countries abroad.
The Mahavira and the Buddha are now the celebrated names of India's cultural past and they continue to influence myriads of people today. Hence it is necessary to compile guide-books to studies on Jainism and Buddhism. Dr. Sagarmal Jain is to be heartily congratulated for providing a much needed instrument for information on research work done in the area of Buddhism and Jainism. I do not know what led Dr. Sagarmal Jain to plan this work. But I feel he himself must have seen the duplication and repetition of the themes while doing his research. Also he must have felt the difficulty of getting the correct information on the various subjects on which he must have intended to write. But the difficulties which Dr. Jain has faced and which have resulted in this important compilation are the common difficulties of all serious researchers. The only lacuna in this work is that it is confined to work done in India. I hope Dr. Jain's next publication will cover also work done abroad. But that will require much time, energy and long correspondence to tap the material. Dr. Sagarmal Jain is energetic and industrious. I am sure he will get substantial funds for the next volume on the same subject which will cover researches abroad also.
In the end, I once again felicitate Dr. Jain for this noble work, and I am sure this will be very useful tool for researchers and others interested in studying Buddhist and Jaina texts and their interpretation by modern scholars.
10th June, 1983
N. H. Samtani
Head,
Department of Pali and Buddhist Studies, Banaras Hindu University.