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FOREWORD
I consider it a great privilege to write a foreword to a book entitled "Jaina Agama Grantho me Pañcamatavāda" written by Dr Vandana Mehta in Hindi which, I understand, is a thesis submitted to the Jaina Vishva Bharati University and which also crowns the writer with a laurel Ph.D. from the said University. To my utter astonishment, I can vouchsafe that this type of thesis is seldom done and it is so meticulously written that it evokes admiration for the future generation to follow. Dr Mehta has followed the latest method of research and every point of the thesis is authenticated with a complete reference to its sources. This book has a speciality that the full text of the source material is given and not its abbreviated form. This is very seldom found in a serious book like this. The Hindi of Dr Mehta is quite lucid and poignant, and yet the style is simple and ornate and never suffers from namby-pamby.
The book has eight chapters of which five chapters are devoted to five theories and the other three are ancillary to understand the backgrounds of these theories. The first chapter describes the sociopolitical condition of India at the time of Mahāvīra (599-527 B.C.). Dr Mehta has very succinctly delineates the condition of India under the garb of which Mahāvīra preached his doctrines. The atmosphere was no congenial at that time that the people had the right to ventilate their views in a free way despite political divergencies. This chapter is worth-reading before we pass on to the next. The second chapter describes the five principles (pañca-bhūtavāda). In connection with pañcabhūtavāda the writer describes how the five principles are connected with Taj-jīva and Taccharīravāda. At the time of Mahāvīra, one of his ganadharas Vyakta by name also asked Mahāvīra whether the five material elements are real or unreal. Dr Mehta has discussed this problem with learning and logic.
The third chapter deals with ekātmavāda which is nothing but the Jīva himself who is an embodiment of ātmā pervaded throughout the animal kingdom. How this doctrine is evolved in Jainism is nicely
