Chaupannamahapurischariyam

SR No.: 001442
Original Sutra Author: Shilankacharya
Author: Amrutlal Bhojak, Dalsukh Malvania, Vasudev S Agarwal
Publisher: Prakrit Text Society Ahmedabad
Publication Year: 2006
Total Pages: 464
Language: Prakrit, English, Hindi
Classification: Book_Devnagari, Literature, & Story
File Size: 14 MB

Page 16

INTRODUCTION
PRELIMINARY REMARKS
§ 1. Foreword. The present study is based on my German thesis on Silänka's Cauppannamahapurisacariya which was published in 1954. As it is not intended to give merely a mechanical abstract of that earlier publication, a few words have to be said about the relationship of the thesis and the "Introduction".
In the preface to my monograph (henceforth = SC/M) it was pointed out that SC can be studied from two different points of view. Firstly as an original creation of its author, secondly as a source for the study of the Universal History in general. The monograph was however not confined to a study of these two points but dealt also with the wider problems of the growth and composition of the UH and with the religious beliefs and ideas incorporated in the UH. For the present purpose it seemed desirable to reproduce in detail everything that had been said about SC as a source for the study of the UH, while it was found justifiable to restrict the treatment of the other matter to an enumeration of the individual topics discussed in SC/M ($ 3). In SC/M, the chapter on SC as a source for the study of the UH (pp. 31-113 ) was actually divided into two parts. The second part (pp. 44-113 ) consisted of a detailed comparison of SC with Hemacandra's Trişastišalakäpurusacaritra and with some other texts. This comparison was essentially a collection of all matter treated by Silänka in a different way from Hemacandra and of all the pieces found in SC but missing in HTr. Out of this second part, two portions (the drama and one of the three vairăgya-stories) have been reproduced in detail ($9 22-25), while the rest has been referred to only in $ 3 ( survey of the contents). The summary of the comparison and the conclusions drawn from it were incorporated into the first part of the chapter (pp. 31-44 ). This first part is here presented to the reader in a revised and enlarged form ( $$ 6-21). The additions were necessary in order to establish more precisely the position of SC/M in the wider context of Jain studies, past and present. Furthermore I have included in this Introduclion a list of alterations and additions ($ 4). The list is of course far from complete but it may be of some use to those who want to study the German original.
The story of this essay cannot be passed over in silence. Early in 1959 Shri Dalsukh Malvania and Dr. A. N. Upadhye asked me whether I would be willing to write an introduction to a forthcoming edition of SC which had been prepared by the Muni Punyavijaya, I was very glad to learn about this undertaking and deemed it a special honour that I was invited to contribute to the publication. When lack of time hampered the progress of my work I was encouraged by my friend Dr. A. N. Jani who expressed his readiness to translate the relevant portions from the original German into English. Although it turned out that the main portion had to be translated by the author himself, Dr. Jani has facilitated my work considerably by rendering the drama and the Silavati-story into English. I also felt that the text of the $$ 6 ff. should be rewritten rather than translated in order that the English version should be as lucid as possible. At last the work was finished, and I feel it a pleasant duty to thank Shri Malvania and Dr. Upadhye for inviting my cooperation and to thank Dr. Jani for his active assistance. I am also indebted to Mr. W. A. J. Steer, who was kind