[INDOLOGY] Paul Dundas (1952-2023)

[Antonia Ruppel]

I am among the many who had encounters with Paul over the years in which we
were not just impressed by the breadth of his interests and expertise, but
also by how thoroughly decent he was as a human being. I will forget
neither our conversations on a variety of Indological topics nor those
on Scottish politics or football, all matters about which he was equally
knowledgeable and passionate. His support of younger scholars was something
we younger scholars not only profited from but could also take as a model
for how we ourselves should act towards the next generation.

Many thanks to Peter and John for this post, and to everyone sharing their
memories of this most collegial of colleagues. May his śrávaḥ be ákṣitam.

–Antonia


On Mon, 10 Apr 2023 at 11:50, peter bisschop via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> Dear members of the list,
> It is with profound sadness that we, his former Sanskrit colleagues at the
> University of Edinburgh, have to share the news of the passing of Paul
> Dundas on Wednesday 5 April at the age of 70.
> Paul started studying Sanskrit and Prakrit as an undergraduate at the
> University of Edinburgh with Michael Coulson and had a short period as a
> postgraduate at the University of Cambridge with among others, John Brough
> and K.R. Norman, before accepting the post in Sanskrit at Edinburgh in
> 1976, where he continued to teach and research throughout his entire career
> until his retirement as reader only a few years ago. He was a member of the
> Council of the Pali Text Society, and the recipient of the Prakrit
> Jñānabhāratī International award in 2019. Paul was a towering figure in the
> field of Jain and Prakrit studies and will be known to most scholars and
> students as the author of *The Jains*, of which the first edition
> appeared in 1992 and which continues to be the most reliable introduction
> to Jainism to the present day. From his many other publications in the
> field we would like to single out *History, Scripture and Controversy in
> a Medieval Jain Sect*, published in 2007, a book of vast and penetrating
> learning with a relevance far beyond that of medieval Jainism alone. But
> Paul also had a great passion for all things Sanskrit, reading across the
> entire spectrum of Sanskrit literature. Testimony to this is his wonderful
> translation of Māgha's *Śiśupālavadha*, published in the Murty Classical
> Library of India in 2017, the first complete English translation of this
> truly difficult Sanskrit Mahākāvya. His latest publication appeared in
> 2022, in the Eivind Kahrs felicitation volume *Jñānapraśaṃsā*: “Sectarian
> Confrontation as Theatrical Diversion: Observations on Yaśaścandra’s
> *Mudritakumudacandraprakaraṇa* and the Jain Debate at Aṇahillapaṭṭana”.
> Paul was still actively engaged in several other projects. His death is a
> great loss to the field.
> Paul was one of the most learned and well read persons we have known. He
> was also most generous and kind, and we will sorely miss his presence and
> humour.
> Our thoughts are with his partner, Rowan Flett.
> Peter Bisschop, Leiden
> John Brockington, Kidlington
>
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>


-- 
Dr Antonia Ruppel FRAS
LMU München
The Cambridge Introduction to Sanskrit: cambridge-sanskrit.org
An Introductory Sanskrit Reader: brill.com/sanskrit
The Sanskrit Studies Podcast: sanskritstudiespodcast.com
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