We are extremely happy to present before the readers and scholars this volume "Sata-saradiyam", a birth centenary volume of The late Prof. R. N. Dandekar, as a token of love and regard towards one of the greatest Indologists the world has overproduced. The late Prof R. N. Dandekar (Ramchandra Narayan Dandekar) was born in Satara on March 17, 1909. He left for his heavenly abode on December 11, 2001 He served as the Prosser of Sanskrit and Head of the Department of Sanskrit and Prakrit Languages at the University of Poona (renamed some years ago as the University of Pune) In 1964, he became the Director of the Centre of Advanced Sady in Sanskrit at the University of Poon, and served in that capacity until his retirement in 1974. He was the first Director of the Centre and under his dynamic leadership, the center enjoyed all round developments and became the real center of learning in Indological research at national and international level.
The year 2009 was celebrated as the birth centenary year of the late Professor. Many academic and cultural programmes were organized including two National Seminars, the proceedings of which are already published. As a part of the celebration, it was declared to bring out a commemoration volume in honor and memory of Prof. Dandekar which materialized today. It was also decided to publish a series of classified bibliographies, like the Ramayana bibliography, the Mahabharata bibliography, the Arthasastra bibliography, the Natyasastra Bibliography, Yoga bibliography which is ready and waiting to see the light of day.
The present volume contains six sections classified under different themes the seventh being miscellaneous The sections are Veda, Grammar and Linguistics, Dharmasastra and Purana, Philosophy and Religion, Literature and Poetics, and Scientific literature. In all 79 (14+8+11+19+11+8+8) articles are included in the volume. Eminent scholars from different parts of the county have contributed to this volume like Prof. Shashiprabha Kumar from JNU, Prof. Lokesh Chandra, Prof. M.M. Agrawal from Delhi, Prof. Rajendra I Nanawati, Prof. Sidhartha Wakankar, Dr. Sweta Prajapati from Gujrat, Prof. Radhamadhav Dash, Prof SS. Mohanty, Prof. Raghunath Panda from Orissa, Prof. Mrinalkanti Gangopadhyaya, Prof. Meera Chakravorty, Prof. Sarvani Ganguly from Kolkatta, Prof. G.U. Thite, Prof. V. N. Jha, Prof. V. P. Bhatt, Prof Shailaja Bapat, Prof. S.K. Lal, Prof. PC. Sahoo, Prof. Bhagyalata Pataskar, Prof. V. L. Manjul, Prof. R.A. Muley, Prof. Ujjwala Jha from Pune, Prof. Bhimshing from Kurukhetra, Prof. RA. Ingalalli, Prof. K.B. Archak from Karnatak, Prof N. P. Unni from Kerala, Prof. K.R. Joshi, Prof. Madhusudan, S. Penna from Nagpur, Prof. Roopkishore Shasri from Haridwar. Prof. B.B., Choubey, Dr. N. C. Panda from Punjab, etc.
Today it is with great pain that we remember some of the contributors whose articles are included in this volume, are no more with us in this celebration, Prof. B.B. Choubey from Hoshiarpur, Prof. Nalini Sadhale from Hyderabad, Prof. Arjunwadkar from Pune, Prof. K.R. Joshi from Nagpur, Prof. Achytananda Dash from Sagar, Prof. Narayan Gopal Dongre from Varanasi left for their heavenly abode.
Now it is our pleasant duty to record our gratefulness and express our thanks to those who were directly or indirectly responsible for organizing the celebration. To start with, it was Prof. P.G. Lalye who had a major share of contribution right from its inception till its completion. He has always served as an academic director of all our activities. Prof. S.K. Lal who has great regard and appreciation towards Prof. R.N. Dandekar has read most of the portions of the volume and his constructive suggestions have improved the quality of this volume. I sincerely record their involvement and academic cooperation in our research programs. We heartily thank all the contributors for their research papers. Our colleagues at the Centre and the Department are always cooperative. We thank them for their help and support. Finally, we thank C.P. Gautam, Bharatiya Kala Prakashan, New Delhi for publishing this volume.
