proportion are two great virtues, which form, as it were, the blessings that Research bestows on scholars. While over-caution may not be wrong .at all, over-statement and anxiety to insert unsupported surmises or unverified data necessarily detract from the value of the work. Dogmatic assertions, sweeping generalisations and hasty conclusions should be avoided. Research is a discipline, and the scholarly virtues it inculcates are more important than the reputation or degree one secures by means of it. While industry is commendable and more output welcome, the ideal, as between quantity and quality, should always be quality.

16. It is necessary to emphasise all this because one finds today that the high standard of work and conduct expected of a research scholar is unfortunately not fully appreciated and maintained. On account of the value which employing authorities are inclined to attach to research-record and the general reputation which accrues to one as a research scholar and writer, there is a tendency on the part of younger scholars to write a number of short papers, sometimes just a note or the putting together of some extracts from manuscripts or a list of authors and works cited, and thereby try to establish themselves as research workers. Plagiarism is a pernicious evil and must be eradicated. Strictness in the valuation of thesis and detailed reviews and criticism would serve to raise the standard of research work. There are some Research Journals which are unfortunately not sufficiently vigilant in the matter of accepting or publishing articles. If they are strict, there is bound to be a substantial gain in the standards. Where there is a full Department, and more than one scholar is working, the practice of having research papers or the new facts gathered or the materials of a book under preparation discussed regularly, can be fruitfully adopted.

Research Scholarships and Fellowships

17. In most of the Universities there is a provision for the award to the more promising graduates of scholarships which would enable them to do advanced Research for a few years and thus obtain Postgraduate Research Degrees. The amount, duration and number of such studentships or scholarships vary from place to place. Recently the Government of India have been awarding a certain number of scholarships in Humanities to students, who are selected on an all- India basis and who are allowed to work in different University areas. From the present year, the University Grants Commission is also award- ing some Research Scholarships. With reference to all these, we may make a few observations. Each University Sanskrit Department should have, year after year, Research Scholarships made available to its students. The Research Scholarships awarded by the Universities should not be as low as Rs. 50 or Rs. 60, as is sometimes the case. There is usually great discrepancy between a normal University Research Scholarship and a Government Humanities Scholarship; and this discrepancy often has an adverse effect upon the young men working together in the, same University. Some Universities, where important work in Sanskrit is being carried on, have never been assigned any

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scholarships since this scheme of Government Humanities Scholarships was started. The method of selection adopted in connection with that scheme leaves much to be desired.

18. Both the Government Humanities Scholarships and the new University Grants Commission Scholarships are awarded only to fresh graduates. Really speaking, there is a greater need for Fellowships for those who have already done some research work, have produced a thesis for their first Post-graduate Research Degree, and have no facility to continue their research interests'. At the Degree stage, the student does not possess enough background to do any solid work. He has only .mastered his prescribed examination texts. During the two or three years of his first post-graduate work, he gets the initiation into Research; his first Post-graduate Research Degree is more or less the mark of his having become qualified to do higher research work. If at that stage, he is not given any facility to persevere for a further term on a higher and more difficult type of research work, he lapses into indifference. He takes to the pure teaching line, and even develops an aversion to research. All may not be desirous of persevering in the research line, but many young men are. These interested scholars would be the feeders for the next generation of research workers. They should, therefore, be picked up and given fresh scholarships to continue their research work. We would suggest the following scheme : Primary Post-graduate Research Studentships should be awarded by each University. The University Grants Commission's awards, which would be of a higher value, should be given as Continuation Scholarships to those who have already put in two or three years of research studentship. The Humanities Scho- larships of the Ministry of Education, which would be of a still higher value, should be reserved for adult-scholars; or for teachers in affiliated colleges, who want to take Research-leave; or 'even for retired men, who may have on hand some research-themes and materials, which, for lack of adequate assistance, they are not able properly to work out.

Post-graduate Research Work

19. As we have already said, the fresh graduate has to learn much before he can be put to Research. For instance, he, has to be taught the very rudiments of textual criticism. He has no over-all idea of the field, and does not know what work has been done in a particular field, what gap there still remains, and what original material is avilable to fill in that gap. No subject of inquiry has suggested itself to him and he does not even know a particular Sastra (or other more general subjects) in which he would like to or could work. Therefore, it would be better if, as a first stage of initiation in Research, which could lead to the first Post-graduate Research Degree, Sanskrit students undertook the preparation of a critical edition of an important unpublished work, which should be based on the collation of a number of manuscripts and which

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should be accompanied by a critical study of that work and evaluation of its contribution. In the course of this type of work, the young scholar gets introduced to many of the literary and textual problems and the methods of scientific research to be applied to their study and treatment. In preparing an Introduction to this edition, the student learns the lines on which critical evaluation, based on comparative study, can be made. From such work, he could go to the more difficult work of an interpretative type, which would lead to a Higher Research Degree, and for dealing with which he would require a certain maturity. For this kind of interpretative work, he should select a school of thought or a branch of literary development. Even in the case of those students who are interested in a specific philosophical system, the initial piece of research work to be assigned to them should be such as would be based on a specific unpublished or not adequately analysed Sastra-text. This can be studied in respect of its own contents and in relation to its school and the other schools as well. Larger interpretative thesis may come at the next stage.

Adjudication and Award of Degrees

20. At present different Universities have different research degrees, different cadres, and different conventions and procedures to have the research thesis valued. In some Universities, there is only one degree, Ph. D. or D. Litt. ; in some, both these degrees obtain as lower and higher distinctions; in some others again (as in Madras), there are three graded degrees M. Litt., Ph. D., and D. Litt. As regards the examinations for these research degrees, some Universities require only. _ thesis to be submitted; some have a stiff examination of three parts; _ thesis, two written tests, and one viva voce test; the viva voce alone is found as an additional test in some Universities. Regarding referees also, diverse practices are in vogue. Many Universities have the guiding Professor as an internal referee; some have no internal referee. Some Universities require only two referees including the Professor under whom the candidate has worked. Some require a unanimous recommendation, others award degrees on a majority report. AR these anomalies should be removed forthwith, and uniform research degree standards introduced in all Universities. The ideal should be that, while a high standard should prevail and no loophole should be given for malpractice or for a soft degree, no needless hardship should be imposed on the candidate. We understand that, according to a resolution of the University Grants Commission, there will be only one uniform research degree all over the country. However, from what we have said above, it will be seen that there is a case for a preliminary lower research degree. This may not be designated as Doctorate. The term 'Doctor' should apply to only one type of scholar. Our sug. gestion is that M. Litt. be adopted as the first research degree and that, for this as well as for the higher research degree, namely, D. Litt., there should be a thesis as well as a viva voce. Additional written tests may be dispensed with, and the viva voce may be made a sufficiently detailed examination.

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Foreign Examiners and Foreign Degrees

21. In some Universities there is the practice of appointing, for the higher research degree, referees from foreign countries. Indian research is part of the research going on all over the world, and all venues of collaboration and preservation of a world-standard should be sought and maintained. But having foreign referees becomes both a hardship and an anomaly in two ways. Certain Universities have dispensed with the policy of appointing foreign referees, and it appears unfair that, only 'in some Universities, candidates should be examined by foreign referees. While we have nothing but esteem for our colleagues abroad, many of whom we personally know, we would like to point out certain factors, in the light of which the policy of the Indian Universities in this respect might be revised. A foreign University does not generally appoint any Indian scholar to adjudge a thesis produced under its auspices, even if well-known specialists in the fields concerned are found in India. Further, Indian research has advanced considerably since the time when this practice of appointing foreign referees was a rule. There are now many reputed Indian scholars in every field, who can be appointed referees. There is yet another reason why Indian judges should be appointed. In several respects, Indian scholarship, particularly in pure Sanskrit studies, displays a volume and variety with which the Western Orientalist is not very familiar. He is also often not familiar with the type of material and its presentation which are required and appreciated in this country. And above all, it does not redound to the prestige and honour of this country that, in the field of her own languages and literatures, theses should be, in every case, referred to foreign' judges. There are. no doubt, some fields in which an adequate number of Indian referees are not available. In such cases, foreign experts must certainly be appointed. We would suggest that generally one foreign judge might be appointed along with two Indians drawn from the Universities other than that of the candidate. There is a difference of opinion about whether the Professor who guided the candidate should be a member of the Board of Judges. We think that the abolition of the system of appointing internal referees would lead to improvement of standards and would cause no hardship. Like justice, fair valuation should not only be done but should also appear to be done.

22. This brings us to the question of foreign degrees and the practice of our graduates going abroad for further study. We have no doubt attained Independence, but that does not mean that we should not continue to appreciate the high academic standards prevailing in foreign Universities. At the same time, it may be well argued that, with a view to raising our own standards, we should now adopt a new policy regarding our students going to foreign Universities. There are of course subjects in which specialisation is possible only in some foreign centres. Even in Indology, there are lines, such as Comparative Philology, for which one has to go abroad for gaining a better grounding. But, in pure Sanskrit studies, it appears that it is needless for our students to go to foreign Universities. While the Indian public is becoming increasingly

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critical of our young men going to a foreign University to qualify themselves in Sanskrit, some foreign Professors themselves now agree that students who come to them should choose some line in which they could gain something new and additional, something which they were not likely to get in India. The exaggerated value attached by the autho- rities here to foreign training and degree has sometimes unhappy repercussions on those who are erudite scholars in Sanskrit, but have no foreign degree to their credit.

23. We are not minimising the need for contacts with foreign Sanskritists. What we wish to suggest is that Indian Sanskritists should go to foreign countries as scholars and not as students seeking degrees. They might go there after taking their Research Degrees here to gain experience by visiting foreign centres, and through discussions with foreign Professors. Or they might spend a period there as Exchange Teachers, giving something and taking something. Or they might go there to study and collect material, come back to their own Universities, work upon that material, and submit their theses for the degree. The last-mentioned practice is generally adopted by those of the foreign students who come to our country on scholarships and grants. The Commission would, however, like to stress the advantages of the first kind of arrangement, namely, of scholars of some advanced standard and equipment going to foreign countries as proper representatives of Indian scholarships and participating in a programme of give-and-take on equal footing.

Subjects for Research

24. There is much improvement needed in respect of the subjects taken up for research. The Commission found during its tours and from the replies to its Questionnaire that there was a tendency to select easy subjects or to go over familiar ground again. Among the many Sastras, Vedanta and Alamkara are most frequently chosen. There is less attention paid to the earlier and more important phases of the growth of the different Sastras, about which material is meagre, and not readily available. As against this, the Western Sanskritist usually occupies himself with some unexplored field. That is why his work is more original and more significant. Vedic research is on the whole very much neglected, particularly when one considers what has been done in the West. On Vedic Ritual and the Kalpa-Sutras, there is very little work done by Indian scholars. Indo-European Linguistics is again another subject in which the Indian scholarship is very much behind the European. There is much evidence of interest in Modern Indo-Aryan, but, we fear, the teaching personnel for Indo-European and Old Indo-Aryan is not being trained in adequate numbers now. The ample materials of the Puranas are still to be exploited in full. A lot of confusion still exists in respect of the varied contents of most of the purana-texts, which all need to be completely edited afresh in a critical manner, after a full survey of their manuscripts and recensions. With Puranas goes the equally large corpus of texts of Agama, Tantra

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and similar Samhita literature. As pointed out elsewhere, Navya-Nyaya and certain aspects of Vyakarana offer subjects of semantic and symbo- lic logic in which there are significant new developments in the West. Indian Psychology and Ethics are special branches, to which, again further attention needs to be directed.

25. Various problems relating to Buddhism and Jainism need to be tackled afresh in the light of the new material that is being brought to light. Indian Sociology has to be expounded properly so that today, when the nation is passing through great changes, there may be a better understanding of the ideology underlying the traditional patterns. Folk Culture, as reflected in Sanskrit literature, is another attractive subject, In Alamkara, General Aesthetics requires further investigation. In Literature proper, a Dictionary of Sanskrit Literature is a desideratum. Forms and phases of Sanskrit as a medium of expression, such as Vedic, epic, narrative, epigrapphical, Buddhistic, Jaina, literary, philosophical, technical and so on, need to be examined from the points of view of grammar, diction, vocabulary, etc. Similarly, the study of Sanskrit in relation to the Modern Indo-Aryan and the Dravidian and preDravidian languages forms yet another line demanding further attention. A witness suggested the study of Sanskrit words, their forms and meanings, as they are current in the various Modern Indian Languages.

26. In the domain of Art, work in Natya, Sangita, and Silpa, in- cluding Architecture, Iconography and Painting, has been almost neg- ligible. All the scientific subjects-Ayurveda, Jyotsa, Ganita--deserve to be taken up, especially by advanced students who have a good grounding in the corresponding modern sciences. In applied scientific lines, it might be suggested that studies in Indian Botany, Engineering, etc. should be undertaken, so that there would be a complete account of the History of Ancient Indian Science and Technology. In Astrology, in which great popular interest is evinced, the branch called Nadi or Samhita, the readings of which are marvellous, needs a thorough examination as to its technique. Among themes of wider interest are Sanskrit Epigraphy, Ancient Indian Geography, Niti and Artha-Sastra, Indian Games and Pastimes, Ancient Festivals, and the like.

27. Besides, there are some serious gaps in Indian Research which have to be filled. In the field of Indian Cultural Contacts abroad, Indian work is very deficient, what little has been done is second-hand, based as it is on the work of the French and Dutch savants. Now that India is free and has diplomatic relations with other countries, Indian scholars should venture forth on original work in the Indian Cultural Contacts with Egypt, the Middle East, Central Asia, Tibet, China and Japan. There is much scope for textual and literary, linguistic and philosophical, and cultural and interpretative work on the inscriptions or manuscripts available in these countries. Avesta and Old Persian are so close to the Veda, but they are not even taught as a complement to higher Vedic studies in India. Similarly, Tibetan and Chinese are necessary for Buddhistic studies. There should be reared a larger group of Indian scholars' knowing these two languages and capable of

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restoring Sanskrit texts from them. For Vedic Mythology, Archaeology and Chronology, as also for understanding many a legend in the Puranas a study of the antiquities of Egypt, Mesopotamia and Asia Minor needs to be cultivated. Hittite is related to Sanskrit, and, from the point of view of Linguistics as well as of History and Culture, Sanskrit scholars ought to take to its study.

28. It is a pity that in such major fields of study, Indian scholars are content to fall back on the work of the Western savants. Indian Research should become more broad-based. A lead should be given in this respect by the All-India Oriental Conference by opening regular additional Sections devoted to these subjects. We further suggest that a School of Asian Languages be established, to train up a body of scholars in Far Eastern and South-East Asian languages, so that these scholars might be able to help the growth of Research on these fresh lines. Some of the Universities also must be enabled to provide for the teaching of these Asian languages and the building up of traditions of Research in Extra-Indian studies. Facilities should be afforded for Indian scholars and exploration teams to visit these countries, collect material from these regions first-hand and make their own original contributions to this branch. There may be difficulty today to bring any manuscripts or archaeological material from these countries; but, with the wealth of duplicate and triplicate materials that India possesses, it should be possible to arrange for exchange of material and to build up in our country a collection of museum and library material for the study of these foreign cultures which were in close contact with ours. Further, interested individual scholars should be enabled to live in these countries for a time to study the material on the spot. The first thing to be done in this direction is to select some promising young Sanskritists to be sent to some of the European countries, where the museums are full of archaeological collections from these regions and where there are Orientalists and Indologists who have specialised in these subjects.

University Lectureships

29. The institution of special courses of lectures in the Universities under an endowment or merely as special Readership or Extension Lectures proved a great stimulus to investigations on specific problems and major themes. Many important Sanskrit publications of Indian Universities relate to these lectures'. Somehow, Endowments or Extension Lectures have now fallen on evil days, and, in the last decade or so, scholars had very few opportunities to avail themselves of this medium for developing the subjects on which they had been working. We think the resuscitation of such lectures by outside scholars, as well as general Honorary Readership Lectures by the Department-members, would be a source of re-energising the Research Activity in the Universities.