________________
INTRODUCTION
Sanghavi. It is my misfortune that I cannot make a present of my book to him in this world. It was he who advised me to take to the study of Indian philosophy and predicted my success in this field. I was further fortunate to receive unbounded favour from the great savant Mahāmahopadhyaya Dr Gopinath Kaviraj, M.A., D.Litt., the late Principal, Government Sanskrit College, Banaras, who read my work in manuscript and whose suggestions have led to the considerable improvement of my work. I refrain from the futile attempt to praise him as no praise can be adequate and on the contrary it is bound to result in belittling his unimaginable intellectual and spiritual majesty which strikes awe in a scholar who has received instruction from him. My debt of gratitude has incalculably increased on account of his favouring this humble work with his learned Foreword. To Professor Dr P. L. Vaidya, M.A., D.Litt. (Paris), Mayurbhanj Professor and Head of the Department of Sanskrit, Banaras Hindu University, I owe a tremendous obligation for the encouragement I received from him. I have always found in him the good Samaritan whose robust goodness had instilled courage into me when my spirits were drooping. He is to me the pattern of a combination of benevolence and scholarship, which is unfortunately becoming rare in these days. To Sir Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan to whom students of philosophy look forward as the beacon light and perennial source of inspiration, the author feels himself bound by an indissoluble tie of gratitude for an act of supreme justice which was conferred by him upon the author in the usual course of his duties as the judge of the merit of all philosophical works.
I shall be failing in my duty and guilty of unpardonable ingratitude if I let slip this occasion of placing on record my debt of gratitude to the late Babu Bahadursingh Singhi, the great patron of scholars, who gave me all encouragement for the prosecution of my studies of Jaina philosophy at Banaras under the fostering care and guidance of Pandit Sukhlalji Sanghavi. The author cannot find suitable language to express his gratefulness to the two large-hearted benefactors of Jaina culture Sri Rajendrasingh Singhi, B.Com., and Sri Narendrasingh Singhi, M.SC., LL.B., M.L.A., the Singhi brothers, who are worthy sons of the worthy father, for the immense goodwill and patronage which the author has been receiving at their hands without ceasing. A formal expression of gratitude will be too cold an affair in the context of cordial relationship and intimacy which subsist between them and the author.
Jain Education International
xxxi
I must here express my gratefulness to Dr Syamaprasad Mookerjee who bestowed the P. C. Nahar Research Fellowship upon me when he was the President, Post-Graduate Councils in Arts and Science, Calcutta University. I should also offer my thanks to the authorities
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org