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Seminars, Inter-disciplinary Studies 30. After the Second World War, we have been having more of the type of discussion called Seminar. A Seminar is much smaller than a Conference and more concentrated, because it has a single theme and a select group of participants. We think that there would be great improvement both in the quality and in the quantity of our Research Work if such Seminars or compact and concentrated study-groups were made a regular feature of the University Departments and Research Institutions.
31. Another new line of work which we may usefully adopt from America is the Inter-disciplinary Study, where a specific general subject is studied and discussed by scholars belonging to different disciplines from different points of view, such as Language, Religion, Sociology, Economics and so on. This is of great help in developing a whole view of a subject. In Sanskrit, there are several subjects which can be tackled like this from the points of view of different Sastras. In connection with more general questions also, such as those pertaining to Indian culture, institutions, phases of thought, etc., such an Inter-disciplinary Seminar is bound to derive much light from the ideals and ideologies embodied in Sanskrit works,
Publications 32. One of the circumstances which acts as a complete damper on Research is the lack of adequate facilities for publishing the results of Research. In the course of our interviews, many Research Scholars at different centres deplored this lack of facilities for publication which seemed to be chronic and prevalent everywhere. They, gave lists of works prepared or kept ready by themselves and by others known to them. A few of these works are mentioned here in the foot-note1
(1) Mantrabrahmana with the commentaries of Sayana and Gunavisnu (200 pp.) and (2) Paraskara Grhyabhasya of Murari, both edited by Durga Mohan Bhattacharya, Calcutta. (3) Two- Volume Study of the Upapuranas by R. C. Hazra, Calcutta, (4,5) Bhrgusamhita and Ravanasamhita. (6) An edition of the Natya-Sastra. (7) A work on Hastabhinaya. (8) Meghadutavyakhya of Narahari Pandita. (9) Vadasel Tamil virivu of K. S. Subbaraya Iyer of Periakulam. (10) Concordance of Grammatical Technical Terms by K. V. Abhyankar. (12) Laghuparibhasa, a Nyaya work. (13) A Survey of Hindu Legal History (LL.D. Thesis). (14) Bengal's Contribution to Sanskrit. (15) SankarabhasyaKarika. (16) Subject-index of the Gita by P. C. Diwanji. (17) VyasaSiksa (18) Bhavisyapurana. (19) Further Volumes of the Mitaksara- paddhati. (20) Dhanurveda of Isvara. (21, 22, 23) Sulocanamadhavacampu, Tatparyatattvavaloka by Dharmadatta Jha, and the Evolution of Vaishnavism by Goswami. (24) Brhacchabdaratna, commentary on Praudhamanorama. (25) Late Dr. B. K. Ghosh's work on the SrautaSutras. (26) A Critical Edition of the Bhagavata Purana. (27) Sabdarthasarvasa, a Thesaurus. (28) index Verborum of Kalidasa's works. (29) A Kalidasa Bibliography. (30) Studies on The Artha-Sastra of Kautilya. 157
as an indication of the wealth and variety of the work lying in obscurity for lack of facilities for publication. Many Universities have theses approved for Higher Research Degrees, which have not yet been taken up for publication. It is gratifying to note that recently the University Grants Commission has evinced interest in these theses and has come forward to help the publication of a few selected ones from among them. Similar help should be given also to print the more valuable ones among the older theses. It would be a great loss of re- putation for an Indian University if it did not make known the research work done under its auspices. In Europe, the Professors enjoy a certain amount of freedom in respect of publishing their writings, and have regular arrangements with the Oriental Publishing Houses. These business houses not only print and publish, but also publicise their works by regular periodic bulletins. Indian Universities and libraries order these books and the work of foreign scholars thus becomes well known in India. But the case is different so far as the work of Indian scholars is concerned; even the Universities. which publish the works of their research scholars, make no efforts to advertise or make known their productions. It is a pity that, even within India, the publications of one area are not easily known or available in another area. It has been our experience that even important productions of Indian scholars are not available in the libraries of many foreign Universities.
33. The loss to India is two-fold-in reputation, as well as financial. When Indian research works are not ordered from different centres in India and abroad, the authorities of the Universities and the Government develop an unfavourable attitude towards these publica- tions' Elsewhere, we have suggested that the creation of posts of Cul- tural Attaches in the Indian Embassies and Consulates abroad can be of great help in this respect. One of the useful items of work which these officers may do is to arrange exhibitions of Indian books and publications of research and literary value, and also publicise such books through News-Bulletins among the Universities and the Oriental Book-houses in the respective countries.
34. There are a few good printers and interested publishers in India who are helpful to Indologists here; but generally the facilities, business arrangements, and the standard of printing and production are not satisfactory. Some leading writers of India seek only foreign printers and publishers for their writings. We think that, unless these top-ranking writers made it a point to have their writings printed and published in India, the standard and reputation of Indian Book Business would not improve. At present, most presses do not even have paid proof-readers and rely mostly on the authors. Increasing work of school-texts which go out in tens of thousands has made printers averse to take up scholarly works. The situation is particularly difficult so far as composing work in Sanskrit and in diacritical Roman is concerned. The paper, impression, get-up, etc., are all matters in which our publications need to improve considerably. It would be a pity if-standard research publications, which were to remain for long and were to be frequently handled, were printed on paper of poor quality.
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35. Publications involving a governmental set-up are often held up for years on account of the red-tape methods. Government Depart- ments like those of Archaeology and Epigraphy, State Manuscripts Libraries, Government Sanskrit Colleges, etc., would be able to ensure expeditious publication only if they allowed the authors to make private printing arrangements. Often even the printed works, catalogues, etc., would not be released for years on account of various administrative reasons such as that the prices were not fixed or that the matter was being dealt with at different times in different Sections and by different persons.
36. In Madras, Bombay and Banaras, the Commission interviewed representatives of some of the more important publishers of Sanskrit and Indological works as also book-sellers dealing in such works. Some of them are doing systematic work. From what we heard from them, it appeared that the libraries in the country were not absorbing Indian books as much as they could. Sanskrit books particularly were not patronised adequately. In the South, we were told by a witness, there were Public Library Authorities and several local libraries aided by Boards and the Education Department, but they did not purchase any Sanskrit books. A high class publisher of Madras, specialising in Sanskrit texts, said that he was ashamed to inform the Commission that his business was being sustained more by foreign customers than by Indians. The National Library at Calcutta and one select Library in the State receive, according to statutory provisions, copies of every book published in that State. In return, it would be legitimate to expect these State Libraries to do a little service to the publisher and the author by bringing the book to the notice of all the libraries in the area. The Commission would like to draw the attention of the Central and the State Governments to this matter.
37. Recently there has been a growing demand for books on India. Many popular publishers and book-sellers have, therefore, begun to reprint old writings of the Western orientalists, some of which are mere collections of articles put together under new titles. Most of these writings have now really become out of date. Moreover, Indian publishers can get many qualified Indian writers to write afresh on subjects relating to Sanskrit literature, Indian culture, etc. It should be remembered that, in every age, classical subjects get a new significance, and fresh works on those subjects are likely to draw out from them new implications for that age. Hence the current demand should be met by publishers by printing newly written books and not by reprinting writings produced at a time when research was still young and many facts had not fully come to light. Foreigners sojourning in India drop into bookshops and look for books on India by Indians, giving a proper insight into the culture and life of the country, and not for what foreigners have said about this country.
38. However, in connection with the reprinting of old works, some exceptions have necessarily to be made. As we have said in another Chapter, there are many standard Sanskrit works and research publications, which are not available at all. There should be a selection of
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these texts, translations, expositions and tools of research like concordances, indexes, etc,, which need to be reprinted. There is, for instance, a demand from scholars for the reprinting of the back Volumes of the Epigraphia Indica. We are very much interested in this, because Indian epigraphy is largely Sanskrit epigraphy. Now, it is easy to. reproduce such material by photo-process, and already some useful books have been reprinted or reproduced in this manner by some enterprising firms. Another need relates to the reprinting of a considerable body of Sanskrit texts which are available only. in foreign editions or in Roman script. A good number of Vedic texts come under this class. Devanagari editions of all these ought to be brought out now, and Indian scholars, particularly Pandits, ought to be made more familiar with these texts.
Critical Editions 39. The progress which research has witnessed in India during the last half-a century has been due in no small measure to some of the great Texts Series published by States, Institutes, Manuscript Libraries, Publishing Houses and Universities, such as the Kavyamala Series, the Chowkhamba Series, the Princess of Wales Sarasvati Bhavan Series, the Panjab Oriental Series, the Bibliotheca. Indica, the Gaekwad's Oriental Series, the Bombay Sanskrit and Prakrit Series, the Singhi Jain Series, the Vishveshvaranand Vedic Research Institute Series, the Kashmir Series of Texts and Studies, the Anandashrama Series, the Vanivilas Press Series, the Bibliotheca Sanscrita of Mysore, the Adyar Library Series, and the Trivandrum Sanskrit Series, as also the Sanskrit Series which some of the University Departments have been issuing. More recently some of the Research Institutions, Journals, and Sanskrit Parishads have also started serial publication of texts. The Manuscript Libraries have started Bulletins in which shorter texts are edited. After Independence, in some centres, funds have been made available for printing works edited from Manuscripts.
40. All this increased activity in the field of the editing of Sanskrit texts is to be welcomed; but, at the same time, we are constrained to observe that, in some cases, worthless or mediocre works have been printed, and these again not at all edited in a critical way. Sometimes even works published already are re-issued without the. knowledge of their having been already in print. Though new manuscripts are available, sometimes locally, no attempt is made to collect and collate them for presenting a better text. There is also no critical treatment of the work and the author; even when there is internal evidence or previously published material bearing on the work or the author, the editors and others connected with the publication are unaware of that evidence or material. It is necessary that a work chosen for editing makes a new contribution in some way, and possesses some value from the point of view of the author, the subject matter or the school of thought which it represents. There are heaps of Manuscripts waiting to be worked upon; and when quite a large, number of comparatively more important works can be discovered from among them, it is wasteful to bring out
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again and again texts of lesser value. It is necessary that this work of editing Sanskrit texts is handled by competent men and after adequate scrutiny and consultation with scholars. It should be remembered that, if once a text was edited and published by some scholar, there would generally be no inclination on the part of another scholar or institution to take it up again for editing, howsoever unsatisfactory its earlier edition might have been.
41. The enormous number of Sanskrit texts available in manu- scripts 'raises the problem as to how at least a fairly large number of 'the more significant ones among them could be put into print. 'The several serial publications now going on, together with what the University Departments and private Research Institutes-were bringing out, would prove inadequate to cope up with even a fraction of this big problem. We suggest that an inventory should be prepared of the more important texts lying in the different manuscripts libraries; this inventory should then be circularised to the various Universities and Research Institutions with a recommendation that, in their publication programme, priority be given to the works included in that inventory. After the Congress assumed power, the Madras Government set apart a sum of money for bringing out a large number of Sanskrit texts. Other State Governments also should make special allotments to the Manuscript Libraries, Research Bodies or University Departments in their respective areas for the publication of special series of editions of texts. The Ministry of Education at the Centre has on its programme the publication of rare ancient texts. It has received a very large number of suggestions in this connection from scholars all over the country. It is to be hoped that the Ministry will give effect to its proposal and start the publication of at least some of the more outstanding texts suggested to it.
Journals and Digests 42. Though the Research Journals dealing with Sanskrit Studies and Indology which have stood the test of time and have attained a status in the field of research are few, there is, it appears, an adequate number of Research Journals in this country which publish the research work that is being carried on continuously at different centres. Some of these Journals are of poor quality and some are struggling for existence; many are rather bad in print and get-up. There is no need to multiply research periodicals, when even the existing ones do not get articles of sufficiently high standard and do not enjoy adequate circulation. Further, most of the Universities and Manuscript Libraries have now their own Journals, Annals or Bulletins.
43. Research Journals should improve their standard by screening the articles sent to them more strictly. There is also much scope for strengthening the review section which really fulfils an important part of the function of a Journal. Too brief and too soft reviews are as bad as to severe ones; constructive criticism, which is necessary for the growth of Research" should be the guiding factor in the matter of reviews.
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44. The number of Indian and foreign Research Journals devoted to Orientology is now so great that the material, which is being issued, through them, is really too vast and varied to allow of easy assimilation. In this connection, the Commission would endorse the view which the Madras Centre of the Ramakrishna Math and the Editor of the Vedanta Kesari stressed before it, namely, that the publication of a 'Research Digest', which gave from time to time the cream from all the Research Periodicals, Would serve a most useful purpose. Some of the Research Journals, which have wide exchange relations, do publish a section called 'Select Contents of other Periodicals'. But a special 'Research Digest' should aim at presenting to the public, taking a cultured interest in Research, the summary of the most significant contributions in the learned periodicals published from different countries. A. complete view of the contributions included in these periodicals can be' had from the Bibliographies, which we have referred to elsewhere. There have been sporadic attempts to prepare Bibliographies, but it is; now time that some serious thought is bestowed on this question and some agencies set up for the compilation and issue of Annual Bibliographies.
Research Projects 45. The subject of Research works brings us to Research Projects. We are living in an age of plans and projects, and there is the danger that we might get caught up by them, without our having properly weighed the difficulties lying in the way to their accomplishment. In the field of Oriental Research, there have been in the West many major undertakings, organised and carried out successfully through the collaboration of learned societies, scholars and publishing houses. In India too inspired by these large undertakings of Western Orientalists and agencies, some projects have been undertaken by scholars, committees. and institutions. The chief of such projects, which is now nearing completion, is the Critical Edition of the Mahabharata undertaken by the, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Poona. The Vishveshvaranand Vedic Research Institute, Hoshiarpur, has been working on an Index Verborum of Vedic Literature, a work of equal magnitude.. In the South, the chief major undertaking is the New Catalogus Catalogorum of Sanskrit and Allied Works and Authors of the Madras. University. The Deccan College Research Institute, Poona, is working on the New Sanskrit Dictionary and Thesaurus on Historical Principles. Inspired by the example of the Mahabharata Edition of the Bhan-darkar Oriental Research Institute, the Oriental Institute, Baroda, now part of the M. S. University, has recently launched on the project of' preparing a Critical Edition of the Ramayana, on the plan and principles of the Mahabharata work. The Gujarat Vidya Sabha and B. J. Institute of Research, Ahmedabad, are working on a similar critical edition of the Bhagavata Purana. The Kasi Raja Trust, founded by the Maharaja of Banaras, has the ambitious project of bringing out critical editions of ' the Puranas.'The, Kuppuswami Sastri Research Institute, Madras, has prepared a scheme for a Men of. Letters Series for
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Sanskrit and Prakrit Writers. There are also the projects of the Dharmakosa (Wai) and the Srautakosa (of the Vaidika Samsodhana Man- dala, Poona). The K. P. Jayaswal Research Institute, Patna, is pub- lishing a series of important Sanskrit Texts based on Tibetan Manu- scripts. The scheme of the History and the Culture of the Indian Peo- ple, sponsored by the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay, has already made good progress.
46. There have been announcements and also initial arrangements ,made for other undertakings of lesser magnitude confined to single shorter works, such as the critical editions of the Harivamsa.(Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Poona), the Vishnu Purana (Mithila Institute, Darbhanga), the Dhvanyaloka (at more than one centre), etc. Having been given to understand that financial aid can be had from the Central Government only for specific projects, some Institutions have been thinking of different long-term plans.
47. It is, therefore, necessary to consider the whole question of such large-scale undertakings by research institutions in this country at the present stage. Such big undertakings require a big establishment, a large staff and a considerable body of collaborating scholars from distant parts of the country and even from outside, and huge financial resources for the high overall cost of all the above complements of these projects. Even in Europe and America, there have been no new undertakings in the field of Oriental research; the unfinished Pali Dictionary, for example, is virtually languishing. It is not possible to find, in this country, sufficient financial resources to support too many of such big projects, especially when we expect the Government to support even the normal activities relating to Sanskrit study at lower and higher levels. The recruitment of adequate qualified staff is not easy, and the plan to enlist the co- operation of scholars from different parts of the country, each one of whom is pre-occupied with his own undertaking, does not work- effectively and causes considerable delay and embarassment. Certain schemes undertaken by committees set up for a specific project, such as the scheme for a new History of India undertaken by the Indian History Congress, have given rise to many difficulties and complications which have now produced almost a standstill in respect of those schemes.
48. The schemes to edit in a critical manner the longer texts like the Epics and the Puranas, which are available in a large number of manuscripts and which show extensive divergences in recensions and readings, become very unwieldy and cannot function effectively without adequate resources. While the high academic value of such projects is generally accepted, some scholars have also expressed the doubt whether so much effort and expense are called for, whether Indian texts can be effectively dealt with in this manner, and whether the results produced are really valid or beneficial to the general appreciation of those works among the larger circles of the scholarly and the
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lay educated public. The enormous number of major works in Sanskrit literature would itself preclude any idea of producing critical edi- tions of all of them on such a scale. It would, therefore, be desirable if, for the sake of wise conservation of our resources, both as regards funds and personnel, no more large-scale projects were started before the major undertakings already on hand had been completed by the. institutions and scholars connected with them. There are after all not many scholars who can spare the time necessary to master the critical apparatus and other material and to sit at the centre and work on the parts of the projects assigned to them. The few scholars qualified to do this are already in demand in more than one place and in connection with more than one project. In all project-work, there is another inherent difficulty. The larger the number of hands, the greater the anxiety about all of them entering everything with equal amount of care. The head cannot afford to verify and vouch for every single item that has gone into the corpus of the evidence. It has also to be pointed out that such projects requiring huge establishments often compel the scholars responsible for them to occupy themselves more with organisational and allied matters than with purely academic work. In a sense, this is a loss to Indian scholarship.
49. We think that there could be a greater output of Research in all these fields covered by the projects, if a big project was broken up into smaller units of circumscribed subjects and several scholars were helped to work up those subjects in their own way, on an individual basis, putting forth their own energy and scholarly equipment. There is a great need now for increasing the individual output of Research and for avoiding this gravitation towards projects. If enough fundswere made available and adequate hands were employed to carry out the various big projects, which had been already started and which were contemplated, a large number of Sanskrit scholars in the country would be absorbed in them. They would be made into mere fittings in a scheme. There is also the danger of their originality and initiative being smothered. Other fields of research would be deprived of these workers and the wealth and variety of Indian research would be adversely affected. There is another point. These projects involving collaboration of many scholars and aid from different quarters naturally presuppose a number of committees and meetings, which are a drain on the funds as well as on the time and energy of scholars. We would, therefore, suggest that, while Government and other Bodies should help, in all possible ways, the expeditious completion of the major projects now undertaken at the various centres, no new large-scale Projects of Research, involving the setting-up of big establishments, need be undertaken for some years to come.
Research Institutes in the Country 50. Apart from the Government and University Departments, which carry on Sanskrit and Indological research, there are many privately organised Research Institutes in the country. The following
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may be mentioned as the ones, which are better known and which can be regarded as being representative of-the different parts of the country: The Kamarup Anusandhan Samiti, Gauhati; the Asiatic Society and the Sanskrit Sahitya Parishad, Calcutta; the Bihar Research Society and the K. P. Jayaswal Research Institute, Patna; the Ganganath Jha Research Institute, Allahabad; the Sarasvati Bhavan of the Government Sanskrit College, Banaras; the Vishveshvaranand Vedic Research Institute, Hoshiarpur; the Gujarat Vidya Sabha and the B. J. Research Institute, Ahmedabad; the Asiatic Society of Bombay and the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay: the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, the Vaidika Samsodhana Mandala, and the Bharata Itihasa Samsodhana Mandala, Poona; the International Academy of Indian Culture, Nagpur (now at Delhi); the Orissa Historical Research Society, Bhuvaneshwar; the Andhra Historical Research Society, Rajahmundry; the Kuppuswami Sastri Research Institute, Madras and the Adyar Library and Research Centre, Adyar; the Mythic Society, Bangalore; the Sarasvati Mahal Library, Tanjore; and the Rama Varma Research Institute, Trichur *1. There are also the Institutes started or sponsored by the several State Governments, such as the Mithila, the Nalanda and the Vaisali Institutes started by the Bihar Government for Sanskrit, Pali and Prakrits respectively; the Rajasthan Puratattva Mandir, Jaipur; the Oriental Institute, Baroda, which is now part of the M. S. University, Baroda; the Scindia Oriental Institute, Ujjain; the Deccan College Research Institute, Poona; the Kannada Research Institute. Dharwar; and the Oriental Institute, Mysore.
51. The financial condition of the Government Institutes is naturally better than that of the non-Government Institutes. While some ,of these latter receive regular Government grants, others are handicapped for lack of funds; some are not properly developed on account of absence of any support, and their schemes, catalogues, and publications have to remain in cold storage. Their Journals are all delayed in appearance, and also there is much scope for improvement in them. These Institutes are very much understaffed, and, in some places, the staff is employed on very poor pay, and only some devoted honorary workers are heroically carrying on. Some of these non- Govemment Institutes lean more on the Sanskrit side, while others more on the historical side. Some of them, like the Asiatic Societies of Bengal and Bombay and the Sarasvati Bhavan, Banaras, are co-eval with the very beginnings of research in India.
52. As there are already several representative Research Institutes functioning in different parts of the country, we think that there is no need for the Government to start any new regional Indological Institutes. Instead of that, they should evolve, either through their Indology Committee or through the proposed Central Sanskrit Board. a