Jainism [Caillat-Upadhye-Patil]: Introduction

THE 2500th ANNIVERSARY of the Nirvana of Bhagwan Mahavira falling on 13 November 1974 awarded us an opportunity to remember the great teacher of ahimsa and pay our respectful tributes. It is proposed to celebrated this sacred event at national and international level. The Government of India has appointed a National Committee comprising of prominent Jains and non-Jains under the presidentship of the Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi. Also, State Committees in all the States have been formed at governmental level to initiate Nirvana celebrations on the pattern devised by the National Committee.

The programme approved by the National Committee includes: (i) the development of Vanasthali or Bhagwan Mahavira Park as a National Park which will contain stone pillars and torana gates with inscriptions of Bhagwan Mahavira’s teachings etc., (ii) the establishment of a museum of Jain arts and paintings, a library of Jain literature and National Council of Jainological Studies, (iii) the setting up of twenty Bhagwan Mahavira Bal Kendras in each state attached to Nehru Youth Centers,(iv) the opening of Rural Library Centres one in each State to be named after Bhagwan Mahavira, and (v) erecting monument at the birth place of Bhagwan Mahavira at Kshatriyakund, Vaishali.

There is also an extensive publication programme covering comprehensively the Jain contribution to the Indian Civilization and Culture. It is also proposed to bring out a Memorial Volume: Bhagwan Mahavira and His Teachings,consisting of essays by distinguished Indian and foreign scholars on Bhagwan Mahavira and Jainism. The present essays on Bhagwan Mahavira and Jainism by Dr. Mme. Colette Caillat, Dr. A.N. Upadhye and Mr. Bal Patil are meant to provide a comprehensive introduction to Jainism for the English-speaking readers. The original French monograph by Dr.Caillat has been translated into English by Mr. Bal Patil to the satisfaction of the author and Dr. A.N. Upadhye, the Chief Editor of our publications. We acknowledge the unfailing co-operation received by the Samiti from D. Mme. Colette Caillat, Dr. A.N. Upadhye and Mr. Bal Patil in this publication. We are particularly grateful to Dr. Caillat for securing us the rights for the publication of this translation into English from the French publishers Editions Gallimard (Paris) and to the Staff of the Encyclopaedie de la Pleiade. It is our earnest hope that this learned introduction to Bhagwan Mahavira and Jainism will give an inspiring insight into one of the great faiths of the world.

Bhagwan Mahavira 2500th Nirvana Mahotsava Samiti, Bombay

KASTURBHAI LALBHAI. President

CHIMANLAL C. SHAH
RISHABHDAS P. RANKA
Hony. Secretaries

21 October 1974