________________ Introduction 13 Da sons, even the children of nindus (i.e. wo men bearing dead children) beoome alive and play with joy, the defects of the stomach disappear and all other kinds of misfortune perish. Thus such is the elevated greatness of the Siddhachakra or Navapada upon which the author has based his whole story. 8. As regards the author, it is a matter of great pleasure that we have The author, his not to take the special trouble of going to any external Gachchha, predecessors source for information about and pupils etc. his namo or date as is often the case with regard to many Sanskrit poets like Kalidasa and others. The author himself has given us definite information about his name and date etc. in Sts. 1340, 1341, where he says :" सिरिवजसेणगणहरपट्टपहूहेमतिलयसूरीणं / सोसेहिं रयणसेहरसूरीहिं इमा हु संकलिया // तस्सीसहेमचंदेण साहुणा विक्कमस्स वरिसंमि / चउदसअट्ठावीसे लिहिया गुरुभत्तिकलिएणं // From this internal evidence we come to know that the name of the author is Ratnas'ekharasuri and that he flourished in the fourteenth century A. D., as it is stated that
