Sramana Vidya Studies in Buddhism

It is somewhat miracle (rddhi pratiharya) that Sramana Vidya: Studies in Buddhism in memory of Professor Jangannath Upadhayaya is published in such a short span of time. Whether it is due to the spiritual powers of Venerable Samdhong Rinpoche or of our late lamented Upadhayayaji, I cannot say; if sometimes miracles do happen here is an example.  Immediately after the sudden and sad demise of Prof. Jagannath Upadhayaya on 15th September, last year friends and admirers of Upadhayayaji stunned with an unexpected cruel blow on his death met and decided to do something promptly to perpetuate his memory. As a first phase of the programme of paying homage to this great Acarya of our times it was planned to publish a Commemoration Volume to be released on his first death anniversary. Professor Venerable S. Rinpoche Principal / Director, Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies as is his wont went immediately into action. Invitations for contributions to the proposed Volume in English and Hindi were sent to scholars. We received more enthusiastic response from writers in English from India and abroad and it was decided by the Editorial Board to publish first volume in English. It is a strong irony that although Professor Upadhayaya was more Popular in Hindi world and his major contribution in Buddhist Studies is Hindi world Sanskrit and Pali we could not get sufficient articles in Hindi in time; but now the Hindi volume is in the Pipeline and will soon be published as Vol. II.  I was entrusted the work of editing the Volume by the Editorial Board and seeing it through the press. Although I do not fell competent to do this stupendous job in such a short time, Upadhayayaji’s unforgettable affection and memory and some unknown power gave me some strength to perform this arduous task. I am quite conscious of my failings and I therefore would seek indulgence of scholars for my shortcomings.  I have done the least editing due to shortage of time. There is no uniformity in style and punctuation in the main body of articles and footnotes. Generally author’s own style as presented in the article is maintained. Words like sutra, Mahayana, Theravada, nirvana and Tantricare given in some articles with or without diacritical marks as given by the author. Also words like Acarya and Sankara are slept Acharya Shankara etc. These discrepancies may be found in this Volume.