About The Book Like the earlier volumes, the present volume also contains articles pertaining to various disciplines of Buddhism from scholars in India and abroad. Almost all the articles are well written and judiciously balanced, based mainly on original sources such as Sanskrit, Buddhist Sutras, Chinese, Japanese and Tibetan texts. They also cover religion and philosophy, literature, history and archaeology. The article entitled "Did Buddha Deny the Self" is particularly interesting in that it strikes a discordant note, contrary to the popular belief that the Buddha denied the existence of Soul, and elaborates the Soul-theory already upheld by the Sammatiya School of Buddhism. The article on "The Origin of Avalokitesvara" throws a refreshing light on the problem hitherto controversial. Similarly articles such as "Bearings of the Time and Location of the Sit r as ..." , "Asanga's Treatises., ", "A Note on the Commentary of the Lankavatara Sutra", "The First Indian Priest and the Kegon Sect", "Vat Rajapurana at Ayodhya : A Numismatic Notice" etc. are thought-provoking and break new grounds in their respective fields. Of particular interest, however, is the article, entitled "A Trans-Asiatic Link in Buddhist Chronology" which attempts to resolve the controversies in the light of the Chinese account dealing with the date of the Buddha, and in the process it also presents a comparative study of the various theories current in different Buddhist countries of Asia, pointing, for the first time, to a trans-Asiatic link in Buddhist chronology.
The Volume was planned in 1988. It was to be the first Volume of the Nava Nalanda Mahavihara Research Bulletin, but on second thought it was decided, as mentioned in the Foreword, to publish it as the Fifth Volume of the Nava Nalanda Mahavihara Research Publication. Scholars' response to our request for articles was quick and positive. The work of editing went on satisfactorily, the manuscripts were sent to the Press within a year and the printing was undertaken in all earnestness. But when the work was almost to be over, it got stuck in there for no apparent reason. However, it is now ready and the credit goes to the Director, Dr. B. N. Singh, who is, by virtue of his Office, its Chief-Editor. We thank him very much.
We also take the opportunity to record our gratitude to the former Directors, Prof. Dr. P. N. Ojha and Prof. Dr. U. Thakur. It was Prof. Ojha who intrusted the Editor with the work. Our gratitude and appreciations go to the learned contributors for their cooperation. Last but not the least, we remember with warmth of heart all those who have assisted us in the work in one way or the other.
Foreword I feel great pleasure to announce to the world of Buddhism, the publication of Vol. V of the Nava Nalanda Mahavihara Publication of which the last Volume (Vol. IV) was published ten years back, i. e., in 1979. Since then it remained discontinued due to various reasons, and no serious efforts were made to publish other volumes in the series. As the earlier volumes were also not regular, it was decided to do away with the series and start instead a new one, entitled the Nava Nalanda Mahavihara Research Bulletin. The slight change in the nomenclature was intended to make it a regular annual issue to be published in September-October every year and to keep the readers abreast of scholarly activities in and outside the country by inviting active participation of researchers from various institutions engaged in academic pursuits in oriental learning in general and Buddhist lore in particular. But, some of the scholars closely associated with the affairs of the Mahavihara Publication were not in favor of changing the name, and on second thought it was decided to retain the old name as the earlier volumes (Vols. I-IV) of the Mahavihara Publication were widely acclaimed by scholars for its high quality and lasting value which earned for the Mahavihara recognition as an important seat of serious research in Pali and Buddhist Studies. It would now be our endeavour to publish the subsequent volumes regularly and in time.
The present volume, though planned long ago, could not come out in time due to circumstances beyond our control. We have no doubt that this Volume will be an invaluable possession of scholarship to all students of Buddhist lore by virtue of the various learned papers contributed to it.
We take this opportunity to express our sincere gratitude to my esteemed respected predecessors Professor P. N. Ojha and Professor Upendra Thakur under whose dynamic leadership the Mahavihara started to recover its lost glory; to the learned contributors for their valuable articles; to the members of the Mahavihara particularly to Prof C. S. Prasad, the Editor, for their unstinted co-operation and to all those whose help and co-operation we have received in planning and executing this volume. Our thanks are also due to Sri Rama Shankar Pandya, Proprietor of the Tara Printing Works, Varanasi for taking keen interest in the printing of this volume.
Book's Contents and Sample Pages
