Academics
This book touches upon the most interesting and vital topic of continuities in ancient Indian thought, with special reference to the possible links in ideas and concepts between the Upanishads and the formative stage of Buddhism as represented by the early ballads. The first part deals with the nature, growth and origin of the ballads and also makes observations about the social conditions of the period to which these belong. In the next part Katre examines possible references to Brahmanical texts in the ballads and passages common to these texts and the ballads. He then undertakes a penetrating comparative study of how some of the core concepts of the Indian thought such as Atman, Karma, existence and emancipation are dealt with in the ballads and the Upanishadic texts. The book concludes with the statement that the philosophy of the early Buddhist ballads is a mixture of old and new ideas.
Professor S.M. Katre had a long (1937-1971) and distinguished service record at the Deccan College in Pune, first as Professor of Indo-European Philology and then as the Founding Editor of the famous An Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Sanskrit on Historical Principles. He was concurrently the Director of Deccan College from 1942 till his superannuation in 1971. During his tenure, this Deccan-centred institution rose in a short time to its present national and international stature in heritage studies covering archaeology, ancient and medieval history, anthropology-sociology, linguistics and Sanskrit. Katre introduced linguistics at post-graduate level in Indian universities and has several important publications to his credit in linguistics, lexicography, Sanskrit studies and critical analysis of ancient texts. He chose to spend his post-retirement years in the U.S. and continued his research endeavours as a visiting scholar at the University of Texas (Austin). Ashtadhyayi of Panini (1987) is his last major and widely acclaimed book.
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