Life and Works of Prof. Nagin J. Shah

Life and Works of Prof. Nagin J. Shah (1931-2014) Prof. Nagindas Jivanlal Shah, a renowned Sanskritist and eminent scholar of Indian philosophy, was born in a Jain family residing in the town of Sayala in Surendranagar district, Saurashtra (Gujarat). The date was 13 January 1931. He did his initial years of schooling at Vatva Jain Ashram which was founded by Shree Manekmuniji. He completed his schooling at Sheth C.N. Vidyavihar and resided 10 Mahavir Jain Vidyalaya while he was pursuing his ' B.A. and M.A. In the B.A. examination conducted by Gujarat University he passed with First Class Distinction and stood second in Gujarat University. He was then appointed 85 a Fellow in Gujarat 7117615107. In his M.A. examination he scored highest marks in Sanskrit for which he received M.L. Prize awarded by the university. In 1958 he was appointed lecture: in Sanskrit at D.K.V. Government College, Jamnagar. To pursue his Ph.D.in Sanskrit he left the government job and joined L.D. Institute of Indology, Ahmedabad as a research officer. He stayed with the institute till 1991, serving in different capacities as a research officer, Dy. Director and Director. He earned his Doctorate Degree writing thesis titled ‘Akalanka’s Criticism of Dharmakirti’s Philosophy — A Study’ under the guidance of Pandit Sukhlalji Sanghavi, an eminent Indologist and great thinker. When published in 1966, it was widely acclaimed by scholars all over the world like Hajime Nakamura, Douglas Daye and Satkodi Mukherjee. Hajime Nakamura wrote in his review, “The author’s achievements are wonderful and successful 10 many respects. Hithertofore, Jain logic has been a field which non-Indian scholars have approached very seldom, in spite of copiousness and voluminousness of its literature, and in this respect I would say the author has made a remarkable contribution... This work has opened a gate to philosophical understanding which is essential to the history of ideas. Philosophy East and West said, “The book 15 obvicusly a ‘must’ for anyone interested in the Jaina logicians; it is also of particular value for anyone interested in the Buddhist logicians from a rather novel point of view largely ignored in twentieth century scholarship. The reader will find a wealth of 2 SAMBODHI information and a wide-ranging summary of many fascinating problems of Indian philosophy.” He resigned from the Directorship of the L.D. Institute of Indology in 1984 so that he could devote full time for research. After his retirement in

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