Purva-Mimamsa in its Sources c3: Preface to the Volume

Pūrva-Mīmāṃsā in its Sources c3

Language: English

Preface to the Volume

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The idea of a History of Indian Philosophy first dawned upon my mind when I began a study of Mādhavācārya’s Sarvadarśanasamgraha in the year 1908. This idea deepened when as Curator of the Government Oriental MSS. Library at the Deccan College Poona, in 1912, I was called upon to make a Descriptive Catalogue of Sāmkhya and Yoga MSS., as well as to complete the work of my predecessor in the office, Dr. S. K. Belvalkar, on Nyāya and Vedānta MSS., and to see through the press proofs of the Descriptive Catalogue of Veda and Brāhmaṇa MSS.. When he was away on study leave for a Doctor’s Degree at Harvard, Dr. Belvalkar in his studies of Greek and European Philosophy at Harvard was also contemplating a similar History of Indian Thought. I was very happy to see that our ideas had entirely coincided, and when he returned to India at the beginning of the last war, we made a scheme of a History of Indian Philosophy and submitted it to the Bombay University, under whose patronage two volumes have appeared, and a third may appear sometime hence. It was apparent, however, after we had spent a number of years on this scheme, that the work of a History of Indian Thought was a task to be attempted only on a co-operative basis. In the meanwhile, works from the pen of Sir S. Radhakrishnan and Dr. S. N. Das Gupta had already appeared. So, when at the First Philosophical Congress at Calcutta Sir S. Radhakrishnan and myself met together in 1925, we formulated a scheme for an Encyclopaedic History of Indian Philosophy on behalf of the Academy of Philosophy and Religion, which had been founded in 1924. This scheme received the support of many great scholars in and outside India, but there came in the way another difficulty, namely, that of adequate financial support for such a large undertaking. It was due to this particularly, that an adequate fulfilment of the task remained pending. One volume of the Series was published years ago; another, though ready, could not be brought out on account of financial stringency; but this volume which was first projected on behalf of the Encyclopaedic History and which was undertaken by the late Dr. Sir Ganganatha Jha is being offered to the world to-day.

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2. When Sir S. Radhakrishnan, the Raja Saheb of Aundh, and myself met at Nagpur for the session of the Indian Philosophical Congress in 1937, we discussed fully a scheme for an Indian Library of Philosophy and Religion. It was first decided to offer this series for publication to some European Publishers, as that would have given due publicity to the volumes in the Series all the world over. The second great World-War, however, intervened. In the meanwhile, Sir S. Radhakrishnan fortunately accepted the Vice-Chancellorship of the Benares Hindu University, and it was decided to publish the Series under the ægis of the B.H.U.. The Academy had projected years ago volumes on Indian Philosophy as well as on Philosophy of Religion, which it was thought could well be incorporated in the scheme of the Library of Indian Philosophy and Religion, of which Sir S. Radhakrishnan kindly consented to be the General Editor. It is no wonder, therefore, that as Director of the Academy I should have felt great satisfaction in handing over the volumes projected on behalf of the Academy to be taken over by the Library of Indian Philosophy and Religion, and exclaim as an ancient Seer exclaimed long ago “जातो ममायं विशदः प्रकामं प्रत्यर्पितन्यास इवान्तरात्मा.” Accordingly, Dr. Ganganatha Jha's volume, which was written originally for the Encyclopaedic History, was offered to this new Series as its first publication. Other volumes from the Encyclopædic History which might be ready could also be incorporated in this new Series, as well as a large number of other volumes on Philosophy and Religion in general. A large number of young scholars have also come into prominence during the interim, and I am sure that the series would prosper exceedingly under the editorship of an eminent scholar like Sir S. Radhakrishnan, and under the wings of the B.H.U.. Is it too much to hope that donors and Princes who have contributed so much to the great buildings in B.H.U. would see that the publication work, which, in a sense, is more durable than works in marble, is duly endowed, so as to enable the B.H.U. to discharge its supreme cultural and spiritual function?

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3. A tragic interest attaches to the production of this volume. It is about three years since this Mīmāmsā volume has been in the printers' hands, but on account of various difficulties, the publication of the volume has been delayed so long. Dr. Sir Ganganatha Jha had desired that this volume might see the light of day during his lifetime. But it was not to be! The main body of the volume was already in print, but the Critical Bibliography as well as the Prefaces had to be written and printed. The Taj was not built in a day; and a monumental work like this is bound to take some time for its proper production. I had announced in my preface to Dr. Jha's Vedānta Lectures published by the Allahabad University, that a great work from his pen was coming, and that it would be the consummation of Panditji's life-work, and so it has been. I do not know that there has been any scholar in the whole length and breadth of India who has worked on the Philosophy of Mīmāmsā so much and so intently as Dr. Sir Ganganatha Jha has done. His translations of the Śloka-vārttika and Tantra-vārttika, as well as Śabara-bhāṣya, have been monumental. A pinnacle was required to be placed on the edifice; and the present work, summing up in a philosophical manner the teachings of the great Mīmāṃsaka philosophers, supplied the much needed desideratum. It is no exaggeration to say that if reincarnation may be regarded as valid, Dr. Ganganatha Jha might be taken to be an *avatāra* of Kumārila. His Doctorate thesis was on Prabhākara no doubt, but the consummation of his life's work was in the exposition of the philosophy of Kumārila, which has not been attempted by anybody hitherto. Like Kumārila, Sir Ganganatha Jha left his mortal body on the banks of the Ganges at Prayāga. To me personally, as it was to many an eminent Doctor, it was a wonderful sight to see the Panditji sitting up in a Yogic posture throughout the entire last month of his life without pause. It was a feat which could be accomplished by rarely any person during the last stages of his life. When Dr. Umesh Mishra and myself had been to pay our respects to the Revered Panditji just six hours before he passed away—alas! we did not know that it was our final visit to him, nor that it was the final visit that he granted consciously to anybody—he appeared to us, and we shall long cherish the impression, that he was a "lion among philosophers," roused from his *Samādhic* slumber and speaking consciously to us. The mainstay of his final programme must have been the powerful support which he received from his moral and spiritual life, led continuously through a period of more than seventy years. Like Kumārila, he was the great connecting link between Mīmāṃsā and Vedānta. Born in Videha, there is no doubt that he must have reached Mukti of the Videha type!

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4. It was a noble act on the part of the Raja Saheb of Aundh to have contributed to the publication of this volume. Shrimant Balasaheb Pant Pratinidhi, B.A., knows the value of such a work more than almost any other Prince. The powerful support which he gave to the work of the Academy has enabled it to endure so long, while his final gift to the Academy, and through it to the Library of Indian Philosophy and Religion, has been the endowment for this volume. Leading a life of absolute self-abnegation, with every pie of his hard-earned money devoted to sublime causes, with a rare interest in works of Art of which his Acropolitan Museum at Aundh will remain a standing example for generations to come, with the princely donations which he has given to the cause of Indian Literature, History and Culture, with a rare love for his subjects and their constitutional welfare, Shrimant Raja Saheb of Aundh stands out as a prominent personality among the Princes, the sum total of whose achievements within the gamut of his finance is hard to achieve by any other Prince similarly situated. I am sure that Shrimant Balasaheb has laid the philosophic world under very deep obligation by his gift for the publication of this volume.

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5. To Pandit Amaranatha Jha, I am indebted in the publication of this volume more than I can say. From the very inception of the idea of the publication, his help in the matter has been immense. I have to thank him for having kindly consented to my request to write an Introductory Note to this volume. If the revered Panditji had been living, no doubt he would have done it himself, as he did in the case of the Allahabad University publication of his Vedānta Lectures. Nevertheless, as an ancient Indian adage would have it, “आत्मा वै पुत्रनामासि” has a great truth underlying it, and it is only in the fitness of things that a person so highly situated as Pandit Amaranatha Jha, so filial, so devoted and so reverential to his father's life-work, should represent the Panditji in a personal Introductory Note to this volume. Pandit Kśetresha Chandra Chattopādhyāya has been the *primum movens* of this publication. Had it not been for him, it would not have been possible to arrange so adequately for the printing of this difficult work, and it would be hard to exaggerate the very keen interest which he has taken throughout the whole course of its publication. Dr. Umesha Mishra, like a loyal pupil and Teacher's son of the Panditji, has at least partly paid his debt to his Teacher by the Critical Bibliographical Note which he has written for the volume, and the framework of which Panditji had seen and approved of during his life-time. Dr. Umesha Mishra's reference to the Maharashtra Pandit Gāgābhaṭṭa, the Coronation Preceptor of Shivaji, who completed the Śloka-vārttika of Kumārila, would please all Maharashtra scholars not a little. The Indian Press have accomplished this task in the entire spirit of a labour of love. They have never looked at this publication from the business point of view. They understood the greatness of this work of the revered Panditji, and they have given us of their best in the production of this volume. A work like this represents, in true Mīmāṃsā style, a great work of Sacrifice. Different *Ritviks*, representing different functions, are required for the completion of such a Sacrifice; and to all the above our deepest thanks are due for the consummation of the *Avabhṛitha* ceremony which has thus been reached through their combined and devout assistance.

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Allahabad. R. D. RANADE. 17th March, 1942.

Linked texts (1)

Uttararāmacarita — Bhavabhūti, Sanskrit