Proceedings and papers of National Seminar on Jainology

Author(s): Yugalkishor Mishra
Publisher: Research Institute of Prakrit Jainology & Ahimsa Mujjaffarpur

Page 8

Foreword
The Research Institute of Prakrit, Jainology and Ahimsa was established by the Government of Bihar as early as 1955 with a view to revive and promote advanced research and studies in Prakrit and Jainology. The establishment of such an Institute of traditional learning in the remotest country-site was, however, also prompted by the pious wish of the sponsors to bring about a cultural renaissance for the masses inhabiting villages. As such, one of the significant objectives of this Institute was fixed to arrange seminars, conferences and discourses by inviting eminent scholars who could throw light on the different aspects of Jainology both in their academic as well as popular bearings and help in disseminating the message regulating of high ideals of life and humanism to all including the unlettered common village folk. In persuit of this objective, the Institute has been organizing annual seminars almost every year. It is gratifying to note that a national seminar on Jainology was held under the auspices of the Institute after a quite long time in November last in which a good number of eminent scholars in the field like Dr. Nathmal Tatia, Dr. Sagarmal Jain, Dr. Basant Kumar Lal, Dr. Ramjee Singh, Dr. Sriranjan Surideo, Dr. Gadadhar Singh and a host of others participated and presented their learned papers on different aspects of Jainology. The key-note address given by Professor Basant Kumar Lal, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy on the 'Contemporary Relevance of Jain Principles' set the main tone of the discussions at the Seminar. The deliberations at the different sessions besides stimulating great interest in the academic world, succeeded in tracing the course of the great teachings of Lord Mahavira and offered useful message to the common man to foster social and communal unity, brotherhood and goodwill among them. Organization of such academic and cultural activities by the Institute would certainly go a long way in fulfilling the vision of the sponsors of the Institute of making it a link between the highest scholarship and life as lived by the common man in the remote villages in India.
The Institute's decision to publish the Proceedings of the two-day National Seminar held on 6th and 7th November, 1992 and to present the multi-faceted research articles of the seminar throwing light on new vistas