Editorial Preface and Acknowledgments

Abstract

In explaining several choices that I have had to make in preparing this collection, as a compiler and editor, I would like first to refer to the fact that no complete and accurate list of Kosambi's writings—in the forms of essays, notes and reviews—exists. I started with the lists available in the volumes published in his memory, 1 which do include most writings, but, unfortunately, not all. I cannot therefore be sure whether I have been able to trace all his writings which needed to be considered for inclusion in the anthology. It is this uncertainty—and therefore the urge to utilize the opportunity to make the anthology comprehensive—which chas prompted me to put together in this collection all the writings which could be traced and copied. There are however exceptions, and they ought to be explained. Two collections of Kosambi's essays, Myth and Reality and Exasperating Essays: Exercises in Dialectical Method 2 appeared during his lifetime and are easily available. With the exception of " The Quality of Renunciation in Bhatrhari's Poetry' which was included in Exasperating Essays, no other essay from these collections figures in the present anthology. 'Quality' and sections from Kosambi's long introduction to Subhasitaratnakosa, 3 jointly edited by him and V.V. Gokhale, have been included here as extraordinary samples of writings of what Kosambi called the genre of literary criticism. 4 Despite the existence of a separate collection of his articles on numismatics, 5 'Scientific Numismatics' is likewise included here also for making the collection representative. When working on a theme, such as on gotra system or on the Bhaga-vad-Gita, Kosambi would produce several articles, including sometimes popular ones, which would deal with different aspects of the theme. Obviously, there would be repetitions of points earlier made and of sources used, but even in his popular writings and reviews, Kosambi never failed to make new points or offer suggestions which could be starting points for new kinds of research. Apart from the pressing need to gather and publish all of Kosambi's writings much of which remain beyond easy access, this is my justification for not try ing to be selective, 6 or to modify the lengths of the original versions. The arrangement of the articles in the volume is self-explanatory. It would have been pointless to arrange them in the strict chronological order of their publication. However, within each section some sort of chronological order has …