________________ Preface. A word of explanation is necessary for undertaking the present edition of Ratnas'ekharasuri's Sirisirivalakaha. It is prescribed by the University of Bombay as a text-book in ArdhaMagadhi for the First Year Arts examination. The whole of the book contains 1342 stanzas in all, but in the present volume there are edited only the first 400 stanzas, which form the portion prescribed for the F. Y, A. Examination of 1933. The idea of editing this book was entertained by me at the suggestion of my revered prof. K. V. Abhyankar, under whom I passed the two most important and golden years of my college career, to whom I owe all my learning and scholarship, and who has always borne towards me fatherly love and affection by giving me invaluable help and instructions from time to time. It was under him that I learnt the most invaluable lessons of life. The most important qualities in him that attracted me most were his sincerity, fatherly affection towards his pupils, simplicity of life,
