Studies In Umasvati And His Tattvartha Sutra

Author(s): G C Tripathi, Ashokkumar Singh
Publisher: Bhogilal Laherchand Institute of Indology

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viii Foreword
found their first expression in the foregoing canonic literature, in such a wonderfully precise, yet comprehensive manner that no work on the philosophy and ethics of this faith has ever been able to ignore or bypass it. It served not only as a catalytic agent for the development of a whole body of Jinistic philosophical literature, but also as a model for it. What the Brahmasūtra is for the development of Vedanta, the Tattvārthasūtra is for the development of the Jinistic thoughts and views.
The present collection of papers contains twenty learned articles of the established scholars who were present during an International Conference on Umasvati (also known as: Vācaka Umāsvāti, Griddhrapiccha Svāmī &c.), organized by our Institute, way back the final years of the last century. They were lying unattended in our shelf till now due to reasons which are not very relevant to quote here, but we hope that through their publication we shall earn the gratitude of the living, and the blessings of the divine souls of those who are now no more with us. What to do? 'habent libri fata sua'!
I express my sincere gratitude to Prof. J. B. Shah and Dr Dhanesh Jain, the two Vice Chairman of the BLII, who not only assigned the job of editing to me but also closely followed its development. Hearty thanks are also due to my learned colleagues Prof. Phool Chand Jain ‘Premi' and Prof. Ashok Kumar Singh for their help and support and, last but not least, to Shri Laxmi Kant, the DEO of our Institute, who along with Shri Raju Verma has been very helpful in typesetting, page-making and preparing the press copy of the work.
January 2016
G. C. TRIPATHI
Director B. L. Institute of Indology, Delhi