Lalit Gupta
lalitguptajammu@gmail.com
With the passing of Professor Baidyanath Labh, India has lost a distinguished scholar of Buddhist and Indic Studies. But, for the academic and civil community of Jammu, however, the loss carries a deeper poignancy. For nearly three decades the city of temples served as his karmabhumi-the place where his scholarship flourished and where he helped nurture an emerging academic discipline, where he invigorated literary organizations, where he made friends across the social spectrum. Yet, thanks to Article 370, the scholar and citizen who contributed so significantly to Jammu’s intellectual and civil life could never fully make the city his permanent home. It remains one of those quiet ironies of history that a mind which enriched Jammu could not ultimately belong to it.
Professor Labh’s association with Jammu began in 1987 when he joined the University of Jammu as a founding teacher in the newly established Department of Buddhist Studies. Over the years he emerged as one of the principal academic architects of the department. Promoted to Reader in 1996 and Professor in 2006, he guided numerous doctoral scholars whose research ranged across Pali literature, Buddhist philosophy, ethics, comparative religious thought and art, architecture. Many of his students today hold academic and administrative positions in universities across India-including Jammu, Ladakh, Delhi, Nalanda, and Sanchi-as well as in Buddhist institutions in Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia.
It was in 2016-2017, that he was called for national duties such as the Dean, Academics at the Sanchi University of Buddhist Indic Studies, where he made a notable contribution to the academic structuring of this new university.
Subsequently, he served as Vice Chancellor of Nava Nalanda Mahavihara, the continuation of the ancient University of Nalanda, where he strengthened P?li and Buddhist scholarship while encouraging interdisciplinary and international engagement. He breatrhed his last, while he was serving as Vice Chancellor of Sanchi University, where he furthered his mission of revitalizing Indic knowledge systems and advancing Buddhist Indic Studies in contemporary global academia.
A scholar of rare linguistic command, Professor Labh possessed equal facility in Pali, Sanskrit, Hindi, and English. This multilingual scholarship enabled him to engage deeply with classical Buddhist texts while communicating their philosophical insights to contemporary audiences. His work strengthened the intellectual foundations of Buddhist Studies in Jammu and gave the department a reputation extending well beyond the region.
Professor Labh was also an institution builder. Recognizing that scholarship thrives through dialogue and networks, he founded the Indian Society for Buddhist Studies in 2000 with Jammu as its headquarters. Under his stewardship the society developed into a vibrant national forum bringing together scholars of Buddhist philosophy and Pali studies. Conferences and seminars organized under its banner, with its proceedings appearing as series of books edited by him, revived interest in Buddhist intellectual traditions and placed Jammu within a wider academic conversation.
His scholarly interests extended beyond textual study to the cultural and archaeological heritage of Buddhism in the Himalayan region. He undertook field visits to remote areas of the Pir Panjal region, including parts of Kishtwar, exploring possible Buddhist connections of ancient sculptures and monuments. Such work reflected his conviction that the history of Buddhism must be understood through both its texts and the landscapes in which its traditions evolved.
His expertise in Pali-the language in which the earliest teachings of the Buddha are preserved-earned him recognition well beyond India. He participated in academic engagements in Southeast Asia and helped attract monk-students from Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and Cambodia to pursue research at the University of Jammu. Their presence added an international dimension to the department and strengthened its academic profile.
Within Jammu’s intellectual and cultural circles, Professor Labh remained a respected presence. He delivered lectures on Indian philosophy and religion, participated in literary and cultural forums, and contributed to public awareness through radio and television, helping connect the work of the university with the wider cultural life of the city.
Colleagues and students remember him as a scholar of quiet humility and intellectual integrity. His lectures were marked by clarity, depth, and a rare ability to illuminate complex philosophical ideas. Frugal in habits and deeply devoted to learning, he embodied the traditional ideal of the scholar-teacher.
Born in the village of Dhanarhi in Bihar’s Sitamarhi district, his journey from a modest rural background to the leadership of major academic institutions reflected the transformative power of education and dedication. He stood first in his M.A. in Buddhist Studies at the University of Delhi, where his examination record remains unbroken. His doctoral research, later published as Paññ? in Early Buddhism, continues to be regarded as an important contribution to Buddhist philosophical studies.
In later years he held positions of national importance. He served as Dean Academics at Sanchi University of Buddhist-Indic Studies and later as Vice Chancellor of Nava Nalanda Mahavihara. At the time of his demise he was serving as Vice Chancellor of Sanchi University of Buddhist-Indic Studies.
With his passing into ‘nirvana’, Bharata loses a respected scholar of Buddhist philosophy. Jammu, however, loses something more personal-a teacher, mentor, and institution builder whose intellectual energy helped shape its academic landscape. His legacy lives on in the scholars he trained, the institutions he strengthened, and the intellectual culture he helped nurture.
Jammu occupied a special place in Professor Baidyanath Labh’s life. It was here that he began his academic career, accepting his first appointment as a young lecturer at the University of Jammu. Over the next three decades, the city became far more than merely a place of employment; it became the ground from which his academic and professional aspirations took flight.
It was to this city that his young wife arrived, carrying their infant child, to begin their life together. Here they established their first home. Here their only child grew up-attending school, forming friendships, and knowing no other city as intimately as this one. For the child, Jammu was simply home, the only world he truly belonged to.
Yet, despite this deep personal and academic association with the city, circumstances of the time meant that Professor Labh could never formally make Jammu his permanent home. The city that nurtured his scholarship and witnessed the unfolding of his family life remained, in a quiet and poignant sense, a home that could never quite be called his.
May his noble soul rest in peace.
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