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Preface.
Nyāyatirtha Nyāyavisharda Vunimahārāja Nyāya. vijayaji is the author of this valuable sanskrit work • Adbyātmatattvāloka.' The work being full of spiritual thoughts, is useful to men of diverse religions. Its style is lety, smooth, natural and forcible. Ho expressed bis desire that I should undertake to translate it into Foglish and add explanatory notes for the benefit of the Jains and the non-Jains. The circumstances had been such as would hardly have permitted the task, but in spite of them, I yielded to the suggestion of the Manimalārāja. Fate had already dealt a crushing blow to me in my declining age by taking away my only son; the wound was hardly healed-I am afraid it is beyond core-when a fresh blow was struck in the removal of my grandson. The careers of these have been very briefly sketchod out further on. Without Jilating on personal worries, I may say, it was such circumstances as thes, that at first made me hesitate to take up the work: but at last I consented to do it; as I thought it would provide me solace in my sorrowsas it actually did-and as a Jain, it was a duty incumbent on me to contribute my humble share to the work of propagat. ing true knowledge of Jainism in the world. There are many -misconceptions about Jainism among the non-Jains. To remove them is ths chief object with which notes, &c, are published. In preparing them, I have had to draw on many Jain standard works and English editions of some of them.
There are many difficulties in compiling such a work. In the first place, the subject matter is too easily comprehended by the ordinary man. One has to wado through a sen as it were before one can set to its end. The