________________ Since the very early days Vaisali stood as a symbol of India's cultural tradition and India's genius for assimilation, absorption and synthesis. It was a meeting point of socio-cultural currents enriching India's cultural tradition. Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Islam, found here in an inspiring amalgam, had their effect on the people. Amrapali, the court dancer's renunciation of the world and following in the footsteps of Lord Buddha and Sangha was not an accident; it was the spirit both of the age and also of the place. The Indian tradition replicates itself in many forms in this modern age as well. The development of Jaina temples, Bhagavan Mabavira Smarak, the Research Institute of Prakrit Jainology and Ahimsa, the tradition of offering Puja at the Abhisheka merely monuments but in effect they mark the renascence of Hindu, Dargah and the Sufi saints of Vaisali add to the richness of the philosophical discourses and speculations that have been going on since the sixth century B. C. Abhinandana-Grantha (Homage to Vaisali) has been brought outje the result of painstaking work and exemplary scholarship of many learned, men, scholars and historians. I have no doubt this volume wilt atoutse considerable interest not only in the world of schotars but also among the enlightened public who wants to study India's past for pleasure, for selfeducation, and for drawing strength and inspiration. Raj Bhavan Patna February 25, 1985 A. R. KIDWAI GOVERNOR OF BIHAR
