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Preface
1. With the blessings of Gurudev the second part of our publication 'First Steps to Jainism' is before the readers. It may be recalled that the First Part was printed in 1984 with a second edition in 1989. Since then we have been working on the second part which has indeed taken a long time.
2. This was partly due to the complex nature of the subjects dealt with in this part like 'The Doctrine of Karma' and 'The Central Philosophy of JainismAnekantavada-specially the latter. Partly the delay was due to the fact that we wanted to explain the subjects in detail to make the book comprehensive and that too in simple language. However, the subject of 'Anekantavada' or the Theory of Non-One-sidedness has become so expansive that it has been difficult to keep up with the latest developments, not to talk of explaining the same. Actually with the researches of eminent scholars like Dr. D.S. Kothari and Prof. P.C. Mahalanobis the scope of Anekantavada and Syadvada has become very wide, being corroborated by the conclusions of the latest developments in physics and statistics. Therefore, even experts in these subjects cannot throw proper light on the findings of the great men mentioned, because to understand the implications fully one has to have not only the scientific knowledge but also knowledge of the philosophical subjects. Such combinations are very rare indeed. We have, therefore, decided to give the articles of the abovenamed scholars in original in the Appendices. At the same time the demand for the second part has been increasing and enquiries were received as to when this part will be out. Therefore, we have given in the concerned chapters in this book in simple language whatever we understood about these complicated subjects with apologies to our readers who find some grey areas therein.
3. From the above it will be clear that true to its name, the chapters in this book can be considered first steps to the storehouse of knowledge of the subjects covered. However, after reading the chapters the readers will not remain completely unfa - miliar with the subjects and the terms employed; and to some extent their thirst for
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