Prof. Dr. Narendra Bhandari
The material presented in this book has come from many sources, too numerous to acknowledge here. Some of these have been mentioned in the list of references. My attempt is only limited to synthesis of science and Jainism to the extent possible, in the way I understood them. At places it may be speculative, not based on rigorous foundation. Many aspects are subject to reinterpretation and further experimentation as better understanding develops.
It has been my good fortune to have come in contact with Acharya Shri Vijay Nandi Ghosh suri ji Maharaj sahib who initiated me into this study and edited this manuscript. I am grateful to Dr. Jitendra B. Shah and Dr. Sudhir Shah for encouraging discussions in the Jainism and Science forum at the L.D. Institute of Indology, Ahmedabad which clarified many ideas. Specifically I am much obliged to Dr N. L. Kachhara for critically reviewing the manuscript and for pointing out several inconsistencies and departures from the well-established Jain concepts and to Dr. M.R. Gelra, Dr. Nirmal Baid and Prof. Rajmal Jain for useful discussions.
Jainism, as discussed in this book, propounds that one is alone in this universe and there is no one who can help in his goal including the "God" or the Enlightened ones and one has to charter his own path. Then is there any point in praying to the Enlightened Kevalis? The answer clearly is "Yes", because they can surely help in one way, that is, by showing us the path. We therefore end this book by bowing to Arihants, because they have shown the path to Mokṣa and removing all our doubts, to Siddhas, because they have shown the path of right perception (darśan) by their own example, the Ācharyas, for they have shown the path of right charitra by practicing it, the Upadhyayas for imparting us the right knowledge, to all sadhus in the universe who set example and guide us along the right path. Thus by emulating them, I can also acquire samyag darśan, samyag charitra and samyag jnān. Without them, how could I have known the right path of Mokṣa?
