Preface

International Journal of Hindu Studies (2024) 28:1 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11407-024-09374-5 PREFACE: SPECIAL ISSUE ON THE WORK OF ARVIND SHARMA Preface Sushil Mittal Published online: 8 April 2024 Ó The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2024 This special issue on the work of Professor Arvind Sharma is special in more than one way. First and foremost, Professor Sharma has been a pioneer in the field of Hindu Studies, breaking new ground in the study of comparative religion, comparative philosophy of religion, human rights and religion, and women in religion. This special issue celebrates his voluminous work while acknowledging that no review of his work can do it justice. At the present time, he has just over fifty authored and co-authored books, over forty edited and co-edited books, and about a thousand chapters and papers in print. At the end of the issue, we have provided an annotated list of his books from the most recent to his earliest. The list does not include for practical reasons his chapters and papers. This special issue is special in another way. Professor Sharma was my undergraduate teacher at McGill University in Montréal, Québec, Canada, in the late nineteen-eighties. My own thinking has been greatly influenced and enriched by him and his work. This issue represents my sense of indebtedness and gratitude to him. Finally, this issue is made more special because of the eminent scholars who have contributed to it. I owe them a special thanks. Publisher’s Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. & Sushil Mittal 1 Department of Philosophy and Religion, James Madison University, 61 East Grace Street, MSC 8006, Harrisonburg, Virginia 22807, USA 123  (...truncated)