Proceedings of the Seminar on Prakrit Studies 1973

Author(s): K R Chandra, Dalsukh Malvania, Nagin J Shah
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 207

166
Let there be one supervising and directing centre such as the U.G.C. The universties by themselves will not be able to finance thsoe departments and that is why the active blessings of the U.G.C. are required. There is no hope from the chlleoes in this respect because the students are attracted to Science and Economics as they fetch them jobs more than to languages. Only those students who have made linguistic studies a mission of their life can take up research work at the postgraduate level and join later on these depatments. A band of devoted trainees will be thus ready. They may do some teaching in the form of contact work in order to keep their know. ledge fresh and increasing. This is the only fearsible way in which the scholars of Prakrit can possibly roalize their dream of digging out the hidden wealth of Prakritic studies.
In this connetton let me also refer to the compartmentalization of the studies of classical languages as also of Avesta, old Persjan etc. Regional and religious factors should never be allowed to play any part wbile framing the curricula of classical languages. Students at the post-graduate level, offering classical languages, must bave an intimate knowledge of all the allied languages. Pattern of the curriculum should be such as would not allow a student who has taken up entire Sanskrit to escape from the study of Prakrit, Pall, Zend Avesta without harm to his Intelligence and interest. It is precisely this very phenomenon that comes in the way of Indian scholars in establishing equality with European scholars as regards classical scholarship. No orlental scholarship can be considered authentic and adequate without a proper knowledge of Sanskrit on one hand and Prakrit and Pāli on the other. If the Indian scholars suffer from a lack of historical perspective it is becasue they welcome one (Sanskrit) and neglect the other (Prakrit). Time is ripe enough to revise our approaches and technique so that a better result becomes possible ultimately.
Similarly, this curious fact is echoed with equal intensity in the field of modern Indian languages also. A student at the postgraduate level inten. ding specialization in a particular modern language must have intimate knowledge of other modern languages as well because otherwise his work, instead of becoming perfect, will suffer form lopsidedaess.
So while making up again its mind to encourage and assist the univer. sities in the studies of Middle Indo-Aryan languages, the U.G.C. should see to it that the departments of languages - Ancient or Modern - do not function in disregard to each other. Religion-bound programme and region -bound porgramme should be scrapped. This means that a student of Sanskrit should also be quite well up ia Ptākrit and a student of Marāthi in Gujaratai and vice-versa. This will widen the scope of research and propote a healthy approach. But it is not so easy as it appears on the face