Vaishali Institute Research Bulletin 1

Author(s): Nathmal Tatia
Publisher: Research Institute of Prakrit Jainology & Ahimsa Mujjaffarpur

Page 189

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VAISHALI INSTITUTE RESEARCH BULLETIN NO, 1
Studies in the Prakrits and researches in Jainology will benefit immensely by being viewed from this naya, to use a Jaina terminus technicus, which means "a way of approach and observation".
The Pressing Needs
8. The most pressing need of the workers in the field of Prakrit and Jainology is a comprehensive Prakrit Dictionary of the nature of the P. T. S. Pali-English Dictionary. An Encyclopaedia of Proper Names in Prakrit and Jaina literature is another urgent need.
The dearth of properly qualified students interested in Prakrit learning is vitiating the quality of research in the field. A student without a sound schooling in the Sanskrit language and the fundamentals of Indian thought and culture is incapable of any sort of education in Prakrit and Jainism. But sometimes this axiomatic truth is forgotten and we land ourselves in embarassing situations by admitting students who, because they lack these basic requirements, are incompetent to conduct higher research independently.
It is futile to expect a flowering where there are no branches, or to expect branches where there are no roots. Advanced research in the very nature of things is the apex of a pyramid : the base must be a widespread interest in the language and the literature concerned. This base has, for Prakrit and Jainology, now almost ceased to exist and only a proper and adequate recognition of it in the curricula can restore it.
Industry and perseverance, which are the pre-conditions of research, are difficult to cultivate. The seeking of knowledge for the sake of knowledge, the relentless pursuit of truth at the cost of comfort, of gain, of convenience-these were the essence of the Indian tradition of scholarship. Alas, we must now turn to other lands, say to Japan and to Germany, for examples of such diligent scholarship and such devotion to truth. Our inability to compile a Dictionary or produce an Encyclopaedia which are the basic needs of the field under review is, I suggest, a manifest instance of our inactivity.
May I thank my learned audience for their patient attention, and resume my seat in the hope that the opinions I have offered and the contentions I have set forth will be received with tolerance.
We, who are assembled here, and countless others in our fraternity of scholars, must sail together on these uncharted seas of knowledge assisting each other, often necessarily criticizing each other, but conscious of the worth of our endeavour and the necessity of co-operation specially in a troubled social milieu often lukewarm to all learning and hostile to all culture.
Thank you, once again, ladies and gentlemen, for your kindness and your patience.