Jasahar Chariu

SR No.: 001841
Original Sutra Author: Pushpadant
Author: Parshuram Lakshman Vaidya, Hiralal Jain
Publisher: Bharatiya Gyanpith
Publication Year: 1972
Total Pages: 320
Language: Apbhramsa
Classification: Book_Devnagari & Story
File Size: 22 MB

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JASAHARACARIU
itself and who never planned to convert every academic activity necessarily into coins : these volumes were made available almost at their cost price ! Dr. P. L. Vaidya set a format for presenting Apabhraíśa Kadavakas; and it is being followed by subsequent workers in the field. In the meantime Dr. L. Alsdorf ( Hamburg, Germany ) brought out a critical edition of the Harivaṁsapuráņa (i. e., Chapters 81–92 of the Mahápurāņu ) in 1936 from Hamburg. The text is printed in Roman script. There is a rich and scholarly Introduction ( in German ) shedding light on the manifold aspects of this work. There is added also an exhaustive Glossary. Both Drs. Alsdorf and Vaidya have much common Mss. material. There was a plan (even a major portion of the Ms. was ready ) to publish Prof. Alsdorf's edition with the text in Nagarī and the Introduction, etc., in English; but somehow it had to be given up.
Though there are more opportunities and facilities, nowadays, for editing and publishing Apabhramsa works, still some major epics like Ritthaņemicariu of Svayambhū, Harivansa of Dhavala, etc., are still lying in Mss. The value of the linguistic material contained in them is unquestioned in the context of the study of Modern Indo-Aryan languages. There are many explanations, if not reasons, for their neglect. An eminent linguist mentioned to me that the days of great editors like Weber ( burying their eyesight in Mss.) are gone; a Nyaya scholar asked me of what avail are these readings and their recording; and a historian said that all these works should be made available in translation. These may be explanations and excuses; but there is herdly any justification for allowing these works to fall into oblivion, if not in the mouths of white ants. What is true of old Mss. is much more true of inscriptions : very few are interested in reading and studying them. Like the Apabhramba Mss., thousands of prints of inscriptions which are awaiting decipherment, are lying in Epigraphist's archives: the number of scholars available for such work is fast decreasing: and even those in authority who talk of Indian literary, historical and linguistic material have mental reservations about the meaning of the term 'Indian'. But a dedicated worker has before him the examples of Drs. P. L. Vaidya and H, L. Jain to inspire thern, not to speak of those who have left for us their monumental editions both here and elsewhere.
Puşpadanta and his works are being studied in their different aspects by students of Midde Indo Aryan and New Indo-Aryan. Dr. ( Smt. ) Ratna Shriyan has studied the Deśya words in Puspadanta's works (A Critical Study of Mahapurana of Puşpadanta, Ahmedabad 1969). Dr. R. N. Pandeya has his Ph. D. thesis ( in Hindi ) Mahākavi Puşpadanta (Jaipur 1968 ). Many stray articles and papers (in Hindi ) have been written here and there on Puspadanta and his works. Puspadanta is gifted with manifold abilities in handling the language, in using different metres and in embellishing his style with a variety of Alamkāras.
In many respects Dr. Hiralalji has been a pioneer in the field of Apabhramsa studies. Apabhramśa is a predecessor of Hindi some generations back; and a close Hindi paraphrase of any Apabhrarśa text, if done in linguistic and semantic perspective, has immense value for the study of Hindi as well as for popularising Apabhramsa works among the Hindi reading public. Dr. Hiralalji gave Hindi translation in his editions of the Savaya-dhamma-doha (Karanja 1932 ) and Pāhuda-dohā (Karanja 1933 ). In his second edition of the Karakandacariu