Sanskrit and Indological Studies (Old and Rare Book)

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I have great pleasure in writing a Foreword to this Volume of research papers presented to Dr. V. Raghavan by his students, friends and colleagues. Dr. Raghavan was an active member of the Sanskrit Commission of the Government of India and has been connected since inception with the Central Sanskrit Board (Kendriya Samskrita Parishad) of the Ministry, as also with the Rashtriya Sanskrit Samsthan. The Parishad and the Samsthan owe much to him in the plans and projects it had adopted for the promotion of Sanskrit in the country. As the second President of the Kendriya Samskrita Vidyapeetha, Tirupati, he organised its Research and Publication work and after the setting up of a central organisation in the Minis-try for the coordinated development of the Vidyapeethas, he has been guiding its work in various capacities, as Chairman of the Central Publication Committee and the Examination Committee and as Editor of the periodical collection of short rare works in Sanskrit called the Malayamaruta and of the Research Journal Samskrita Vimarsa.

I must especially mention one great piece of work he did with which I was connected. I had the honour of calling upon him to bear, as Chairman, the burden of the academic work of the First World Sanskrit Conference which this Ministry undertook to conduct in the end of March 1972. With his visits to the several foreign countries in the East and West and his world-wide contacts in the field of Sanskrit studies and experience of conducting conferences, he made a signal success of what was one of the largest Conferences. In addition to the academic work, he also took care of the Sanskrit entertainments, Sanskrit Dramas, Dances and Song-recitals, and produced also his own new Sanskrit play at the Conference.

For four decades he has been a leader among Sanskrit scholars in the country, a prolific writer and lecturer and the most active promoter of Sanskrit and Indology through official and non-official bodies and conferences. Besides being Professor and Head of the Department of Sanskrit in the Madras University, which position he adorned with distinction, he had been member of several committees of this and other Ministries of Government and of the statutory bodies set up by Government like the Sahitya and Sangeet Natak Akademis. Most recently, in Paris he was elected President of the International Association of Sanskrit Studies, the setting up of which was recommended by the First World Sanskrit Conference of this Ministry.

I am sure the Volume will be a source of inspiration to scholars of the younger generation.

I hope and pray to Goddess Sarasvati and the Sanskrit Muse to endow Dr. Raghavan with long life and health to continue his researches and his service in the cause of pro-motion of Sanskrit.

I am extremely delighted to write this Preface to the Felicitation Volume in honour of Dr. V. Raghavan being brought out by the well-known house of Indological publishers, M/s. Motilal Banarasidass, Delhi. Dr. Raghavan and his contributions to Sanskrit and Indological Studies need no introduction. Dr. Raghavan represents a rare combination of the depth of traditional scholarship with the width and critical outlook of modern comparative study. He has upheld, by example and precept, the highest standards of research scholarship. He was associated with the Sanskrit Commission appointed by the Government of India in 1956. He has all along been associated with the Central Sanskrit Board and Rashtriya Sanskrit Samsthan and their various committees, and has contributed greatly to the promotion and development of Samskrit studies in the country. In these bodies, as I have had the pleasure of knowing personally, he had always taken an all-India view and sponsored and supported persons and projects in all parts of the country. It was quite in the fitness of things that the publication of a Felicitation Volume in his honour was planned at the Kendriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha, Tirupati, of which Dr. Raghavan was Chairman for some time. I am glad that the plans of his disciples, colleagues and friends have now reached a successful conclusion and the Volume is seeing the light of day. I congratulate M/s. Motilal Banarsidass for publishing this Felicitation Volume in honour of Dr. Raghavan who is loved and respected by scholars all over the country and abroad.

We must first express our appreciation of the co-operation of several scholars who had contributed to this Volume. This volume is confined to papers by Indian scholars with the exception of Prof. Ludo Rocher whose contribution could not be included in the Felicitation Volume in honour of Dr. Raghavan published by the Adyar Library (1968) which included articles written by Dr. Raghavan's friends and colleagues in the field of Indian Studies in foreign countries.

In addition to the scholarly papers, the Volume carries a Profile of Dr. Raghavan by Mr. Peter Khoroche of SOAS., University of London, and an account of Dr. Raghavan's work from 1969 up to date and also a Bibliography of his books, papers and other writings from the beginning of 1969 till today, in continuation of the Bibliography published on the occasion of his 61st Birthday.

Special mention must be made of the work on this Volume by Dr. S.S. Janaki who read the proofs and assisted in the preparation of the Bibliography. A portion of the proofs in the beginning was also read by Sri C.S. Sundaram. Dr. R.N. Dandekar, Dr. Satyavrat and Dr. Mandan Mishra have also been of help in the arrangements for the presentation of this Volume to Dr. Raghavan.

We should also express our thanks to the Honourable Shri D.P. Yadav, the Deputy Minister of Education and Social Welfare, for his Foreword to this Volume.

**Contents and Sample Pages**