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2. Restoration of the Original Language of Ardhamāgadhi Texts, 1994
( २. रेस्टोरेशन ऑफ द ओरिजनल लैंग्वेज ओफ अर्धमागधी टेक्स्ट्स, १९९४)
FOREWORD
Dr. K.R.Chandra's remarkable investigations in the direction of determining the 'Original' linguistic character of the Jain Ardhamāgadhi Agamic texts are well-known through his writings published so far. The present effort serves to provide some concrete basis to the views he has advanced in this subject. He has selected a number of words from the older stratum of the Ardhamāgadhi texts and has presented a systematic and statistical study of their all available variants in the printed editions. These can be well taken as typical case-studies. The study demonstrates that stray, isolated archaic word-forms preserved in MSS. are suggestive pointers that can give us a glimpse of the original language of the texts. We can not evaluate a particular variant reading and select it as genuine or reject it as later without taking into consideration the development of Middle Ino-Aryan onwards from the Aśokan dialects and without paying attention to the fact of gradual 'Saurasenization' first and 'Mahārāṣtrization' in later of the Agamic Ardhamāgadhi.
If the findings of Dr. Chandra's present few case-studies are acceptable, they quite obviously necessitate a systematic effort to scan all the available variant readings of all Agamic texts for spoting archaic and consequently genuine readings, As a 'follow-up work' we would require to re-edit some of the texts or therir parts. Of course, the metrical criteria also shall have to be taken into consideration for the re-editing of metrical texts, as is evident from the studies of L. Alsdorf and others.
I congratulate Dr. Chandra for his untiring critical work in this crucial area of Jain studies.
Ahmedabad
-Prof. H. C. Bhayani
26-1-94
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