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In Search of the Original Ardhamăgadhi
K.R. Chandra far it is right to think that there was no ya-Sruti in the Amg. text. (For a detailed study of the problem, see my articleYa-Sruti in Prakrit. Jain Journal, Vol-xxvi, No.3 January, 1992, pp. 157-169). However. Dr Chandra, at least, has been consistant in not recording any reading with ya-śruti (except in a very few cases) throughout the text and from that point of view he has maintained what he has said in the Introduction.
His other points like the initial and medial dental njña, nya etc. need some more consideration than what he has said in the Introduction. The whole problem of editing Jaina Agama texts is a severe one, and the problem is not like Sanskrit or Pāli. This is, indeed, true that we will have to accept some procedures to edit a Prakrit text, before we venture to improve upon the text. His inclusion of .dhaintervocally makes the text a Sauraseni one. In some cases, intervocalic - k- is changed to -g- but in other cases - k(intervocalic) is retained. However, I am not in a position to assess all these readings in this short space and time, but I am sure that this text will provide lots of interesting phenomena for future generations to come.
On the whole this edition is admirable and commands respect from the readers of Prakrit. One thing very praiseworthy is that what Dr.Chandra thinks as the correct reading, he has accepted and his conviction that the original language of the Amg. text was more archaic than what is found in later Prakrits is faithfully represented in the text. I personally believe this edition of Dr.Chandra will rouse stimulations in the minds of the scholars and for that reason this edition has a remarkable value in the scholarly world.
Satya Ranjan Banerjee JAIN JOURNAL, CALCUTTA, VOL.XXXI. No.4,
April, 1997, pp.134 -136
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