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Preface
We were indeed fortunate to have had a personal meeting, some three years ago, with Prof. M. A. Mehendale in the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune. We were of course aware that he is a world-renowned scholar of Indian linguistics, languages, literature, and culture. And even before that meeting, for some years we were acquainted with his erudite contributions. However, on meeting him, besides his very learned bearing, we were also deeply impressed by his humility, courteousness, and no less by his warm and affectionate disposition. Prof. Mehendale's work on the Aśokan inscriptions, Avesta, and also on the Mahābhārata is too wellknown. His writings are considered authentic and by many as final in his fields of investigation. For long years, his research papers and articles have been published in the journals of high standing both in India and abroad. Reflecting as these writings do serious research and originality, the scholars rate his thought-provoking studies among the valuable contributions to the domain also of Indology in general. Since his articles, paprers etc. are scattered through different published sources, it was decided by Prof. S. D. Laddu and his colleagues at the Bhandarkar and other Oriental Research Institutes in Pune to collect all such writings and publish them in a book form. An editorial board was next instituted. When the collected material was organized and made ready for printing, Dr. Laddu suggested us to publish it as a Volume, a proposal to which we agreed with delight. The format of the book follows the Quail Scripts style.
We hope that this Volume will be useful to and welcomed by scholars in the concerned fields as also those who have a general interest in the researches in Indology.
Ahmedabad, 11-5-2001
Jitendra B. Shah
Jain Education International
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