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explained, allows wider space only to more difficult passages, and passes quickly over others with the remark" easily understood" (sugamam). If, in spite of all these difficulties, Mallavâdî's text, or at least his trends of thought are reconstructed, also Simhasuri's text needs reconstruction, as it is faulty and demands numerous corrections. But even then, the comprehension of the text is not easy, as Mallavadi's work in itself is very difficult indeed.
I am very happy to say that the editor of the present edition, Muni Jambuvijaya, has mastered to perfection all these difficulties, and has given us a text as best as can be achieved at the present time. Clarity has been gained on the extant manuscripts and Muni Jambuvijaya's notes to the text give reliable information as to the tradition, so that a stable basis is supplied for further research. His reconstruction of the original makes it possible to follow Mallavadi's trends of thought also in passages where absolute certainty cannot be achieved. It has been carefully considered and deserves our full attention. At any rate, the text of the commentary is reliable and has been made legible by means of various corrections. Above all this text gains greatly by numerous notes and cross-references to related texts, thus aiding in the comprehension of the original itself. Here special mention should be made of the Bhoṭaparisiṣṭam, which contains the relevant passages from Dignaga's Pramāṇasamuccayaḥ. Thus, the author's painfully accurate labours have opened a way of approach to such an extraordinarily difficult text. The warmest thanks of all interested in Indian philosophy and especially in Jain doctrines are due to the editor who has taken such a tremendous amount of work upon himself, as well as to the directors of the Jain Atmanand Sabha in Bhavnagar who made the publication of this valuable edition possible. There remains but one desire, that Mallavadi's work, only recently made presentable to the public, should find the attention it deserves, and its rewarding contents should bear fruit in further research.
Vienna,
15th September 1958
I am greatly indebted to Dr. E. Frauwallner, Professor of Indology and Iranian Philology at the University of Vienna (Austria) and the member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences for writing the foregoing Introduction-Muni Jambuvijaya.
Jain Education International
ERICH FRAUWALLNER
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