________________ Introduction manuscripts ut, g and 3, but, it appears that they are not very modern; they may possibly belong to the eighteenth century. :Manuscript a is dated 1788 A. D. The manuscripts designated v aud J are very old belonging to the sixteenth century (1539 and 1596 A. D.) which is practically the time of the author. Both the manuscripts are written tolerably well and there are not many clerical errors. Both follow the old style of writing characterized specially by Prishthamatrag. Manuscript it has been eaten a little by moths at some places. It was probably copied by a Pandit and he himself or somebody else studied from it as there are found many corrections made at several places, and the Sanskrit equivalents are occasionally given in the margin. 4. Regarding the author and his time, an cestry, scholarship, locality and The author and date. the like, little information is available beyond what is found in the last stanza of the text where Jinamanikya appears to be given as the name of the author and Hemavimala as the name of his preceptor. The date of the earliest manuscript collected for the present edition is 1539 A. D. which fixes the latest limit for the composition of the book. No external evidence, mentioning the name of the author or his other works,
