Jain Journal 1970 01

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 14

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JAIN JOURNAL
the major one). (Studien zum Mahānisiha, Studies in the Mahānisiha, Bibl. no. 33).
Twelve years later Schubring returned for the third time to the Mahānisiha, editing chapters 4 and 5, while the Belgian scholar, Jozef Deleu, edited chapters 1-3 (Bibl. no. 43). Finally in the memorial for Louis Renou, Schubring's contribution was a translation of part of chapter 6 of the Mahānisiha (Bibl. no. 47).
The third work of his I want to mention in this context is a very small book, the Isibhāsiyāim (Rșibhāṣitāni). In 1942, he published the prakrit text (Bibl. no. 29); then after the last war there followed a Sanskrit-chāyā (no. 34), and his last book was a German translation of the Isibhāsiyāim, appearing only this year (no. 48). Actually the first copy of this book was given into his hands when he had already been taken to hospital, which he never was to leave while he was living. So to his last weeks, aged 87, his powers of intellect never failed him.
While in his own research he rarely left the study of the ancient Prakrit texts, it was his ambition as an academic teacher to at least introduce his pupils to the whole range of Indology, beginning with the Rg-veda and Atharva-veda, particularly the later for which he had a special interest, the epics and the classical Sanskrit autħors; then he regularly introduced us, his pupils, to epigraphical studies, especially of the inscriptions of Asoka. Then followed Pali (especially the chronicles of Ancient Ceylon), and, last though not least, Prakrit and Apabhramsa. He himself read also Hindi and Gujarati and in a way Marathi, though he did not force these modern Indian languages on his students. Indeed to force anything on anybody was the last thing he would ever think of.
Though he was not particularly interested in philosophical problems, he considered it necessary for an aspirant to Indological studies to be introduced to Indian philosophical texts. So he read e.g. with me the Samkhyatattvakaumudi. His method of teaching was very helpful to his pupils ; it was lucid, encouraging and implicitly showed the way to tackle problems.
Several honours were conferred on Professor Schubring. In 1938 he became a Corresponding Member of the Scientific Academy of Gottingen. The Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society elected him to their Honorary Membership in 1953. The Deutsche Morgenlandische Gesellschaft did the same in 1956. For several years he served as co-editor of the latter's Journal (Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlandis