Jain Journal 1970 01

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

Page 42

148
JAIN JOURNAL
Schubring held his general classes in the evening and special classes with me or Matsunami either in the forenoon or in the afternoon. The topic he chose for me, at my request, for my Doctorate thesis was a critical examination of an obscure Jaina Canonical text, the Tenth Anga called the Panhāvāgaraņāim in Sanskrit, Praśna-vyākaraṇāni), on which hardly any work had been done since Weber's preliminary survey.
With the arrival of December, Christmas festivities began all over the country in typical German fashion. We were invited to a party in Schubring's house, which also coincided with his birthday. Celebrations were held with a big dance in the Studentenhaus, and with a gathering at the Seminar, at which Schubring read a "news bulletin" referring very humourously to various Seminar events and personal characterstics of his pupils. In January 1934 I began to suffer from a rheuma pain increased by the damp cold of Hamburg,-nearly every third person in Hamburg suffered in winter from some kind or other of rheumatism, due to which it became difficult for me to keep sitting erect for long and I needed to recline, for which purpose I brought in with Schubring's permission a small canvas easy-chair-supplied and delivered at the Seminar itself by the kindness of an old lady who was one of Frau Fera's helpers at the Auslandsstelle--and placed it in my Seminar working room. He desired me to use the chair also in the class-room, which however I did not do as the time to be spent in the class-room was after all not long. In the long winter evenings I often found myself working alone in the Seminar. If he happened to be present, Schubring would sometimes come and chat with me for a while. On such occasions as also when he entered the class-room I used to stand up but he said I need not do so, for it was not the custom in Germany for students to stand up when the Professor came into the room or spoke to them. This seemed rather surprising to me, for otherwise German students treated their Professors with such respectful formality that in Schubring's house-parties they would all remain silent and grave, most of the talking being done by him and his family. Schubring also told me that if I happened to have at any time any engagements outside, I could freely drop my classes with him and just leave him a note to that effect.
In February my rheumatic pains increased further and on the University doctor's advice I had to be in hospital for investigation and treatment. Frau Fera took me in a taxi to the hospital where she, the Meyer-Benfeys and other friends regularly visited me and supplied my needs. Once I was having my lunch sitting up in bed when Schubring