The present works, the B.A. Pali Selections Part-I (Prose) and Part-II (Poetry) have been planned and schemed to replace an earlier edition entitled B.A. Pali Selections PROSE and POETRY edited by SAILENDRA NATH MITRA, and published by the University of Calcutta in 1965. For a long time these have been out of print creating a great problem both for the students and the teachers. To solve this problem I have prepared these Selections by adding Buddhism and History of Literature to the Part-I (PROSE) and the Vuttodaya to the PartII (POETRY) to meet the need of syllabus as far as possible.
The present works, the B.A. Pali Selections Part-I (Prose) and Part-II (Poetry) have been planned and schemed to replace an earlier edition entitled B.A. Pali Selections PROSE and POETRY edited by SAILENDRA NATH MITRA, and published by the University of Calcutta in 1965. For a long time these have been out of print creating a great problem both for the students and the teachers. To solve this problem I have prepared these Selections by adding Buddhism and History of Literature to the Part-I (PROSE) and the Vuttodaya to the PartII (POETRY) to meet the need of syllabus as far as possible. The Vullodaya has been taken from the Journal of the Department of Letters, University of Calcutta, Vol. 18 (1929).
I convey my heartfelt gratitude to the Respected Vice-Chancellor, Professor Suranjan Das, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Academic Affairs), Professor Dhrubajyoti Chattopadhyay and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Business Affairs & Finance), Professor Tapan Kumar Mukherjee and Ex-Vice-Chancellor, Professor Asis Kumar Banerjee, Calcutta University for their kind permission to get the B.A. Pali Selections reprinted and re-edited.
I have edited the Selections in consultation with Professor Binayendra Nath Choudhury, Ex-Dr. B. M. Barua Research Professor of Pali and Buddhism, The Asiatic Society, Kolkata; Professor Dipak Kumar Barua, Ex-Professor and Head, Department of Pali, Calcutta University and Ex-Director, Nava-Nalanda Mahavihara, Nalanda, Bihar and Dr. Asha Das, Ex-Reader, Department of Pali, Calcutta University. I am grateful to all of them. I also convey my thanks to Dr. Manikuntala Haldar (De), Reader in the Department of Pali, Calcutta University.
I have to fulfil the duty of acknowledging my indebtedness to Late Professor Anukul Chandra Banerjee, former Professor and Head of the Department of Pali and Ex-Dean of the Faculty of Arts, University of Calcutta. I think it is my duly to mention here my special obligation to Late Dr. Sukumar Sengupta, Ex-Reader, Department of Pali, University of Calcutta. I am ever grateful to Late Professor Heramba Nath Chatterjee Sastri, Research Professor of Smriti and Purāņa, Sanskrit College, Calcutta.
My thanks are, in a great measure, due to Sri Pradip Kumar Ghosh, Superintendent, Calcutta University, for his ready help and close co-operation in bringing out the present Selections.
The present work has been designed to replace an earlier edition of the B.A. Pali Selections, which was published by the University of Calcutta as far back as 1934 and is now out of stock. In view of the recent introduction of the Pre-University and the Three-Year Degree Courses by the Calcutta University and also in consideration of the volume of texts to be prescribed for these courses in Pali, changes have been made in the present edition by the inclusion of additional selections and re-arrangement of the old pieces and replacement of some of them by new ones. The main reasons for these changes are : first, to cover the courses of study meant for Part I and Part II of the Degree Examination ; secondly, to compensate, by the inclusion of additional matter, one year's quantum of study of the Intermediate course, now dropped under the Regulations ; and thirdly, to provide a more comprehensive course of study to the students concerned as a preparatory step to the Post-graduate course in Pali. In making these alterations, there has been no deviation from the original co-ordinated scheme of study.
The Selections are so devised as to present, within the limits of this work, the various aspects of Buddha's life and teachings (specially his teachings vis-a-vis the views of contemporary religious teachers), and the scattered materials for the history of Buddhism down to the time of Asoka. The prose portion comprises texts from the Nikāyas, the Udāna, the Milindapañha and the Atthakathās, while the poetry pieces are wholly from the Dhammapada, and partly from the Suttanipāta, the Thera-Therīgāthā and the Apadāna. Care has been taken to avoid the diffuseness of the original and to ensure brevity so as to make the study clear and instructive. Extracts from the Pañcatantra and the Edicts of Asoka as well as select verses from the Prakrit Dhammapada (mainly for comparative study), the Samyutta-Nikāya, the Dīgha-Nikāya and the Jātaka have also been included.
As far as the Nikāya pieces in the prose portion are concerned, the scheme, built up with a fair proportion of diverse edifying discourses, begins with an account of the circumstances leading to Buddha's attainment of Enlightenment (Bodhi), which is followed by the preaching of his First Sermon — the two most notable incidents in his life, and it closes with a piece indicating the position of the Buddhist Order immediately after Buddha's demise. The poetry portion presents a variety of pieces — lyrical, narrative and reflective — expressing sentiments ranging from the pathetic to the sublime, from the passionate to the tranquil, from the mundane to the transcendental. The book is, on the whole, a collection of materials of varied interests : historical and geographical, social and religious, ethical and philosophical, political and judicial, literary and linguistic, architectural and iconographical.
The Notes at the end, elucidating technicalities and intricate matters, are intended to remove the general handicap of students in respect of books of reference, which may not be easily available to them.
In preparing this work and in seeing it through the Press, I have been materially assisted throughout by my friend and pupil, Sri Dwijendralal Barua, M. A., Lecturer in the Post-graduate Departments of Pali and Modern Indian Languages, Calcutta University, whose useful and ungrudging services were very generously made available to me by the University of Calcutta. My thanks are, in a great measure, due to Dr. G. C. Raychaudhuri, M. A., LL.B., Ph.D., Registrar, Calcutta University, for his ready help and close co-operation in bringing out the present Selections.
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