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VĪRASTAVA-PRAKĪRṆAKA
PUBLISHER'S NOTE
Ardhamāgadhi Jaina Agamic literature is a valuable treasure of Indian culture and literature. It is unfortunate that due to the non-availability of suitable translations of these works, both, the laymen as well as the learned scholars were unfamiliar with them. Of these agamic works, the Prakirnakas have almost been unavailable even though they are of an ancient origin and are predominantly spiritual in their content. We are fortunate that Mahāvīra Jaina Vidyalaya, Mumbai has already published the original texts of these Prakirnakas, duly edited by Muni Śrī Punya Vijayaji, but in the absence of translations, in modern Indian languages, they were, generally, inaccessible to the laymen. It is for this reason that the co-ordination committee of the scholars of Jainology had decided to accord priority to the translation of the canonical texts and their explanatory literature and allotted the task of translating Prakirnakas to the Agama Samsthāna. The Samsthāna has, to date, translated, into Hindi, and published 15 Prakirnakas. This has made these valuable texts available to the inquisitive and desirous readers of the Jaina studies.
However, those western and Indian readers, settled abroad, who do not read and understand Hindi are still deprived of the contents of these enlightening works. We are happy to note that Colonel Dalpat Singh Baya Śreyas' has translated the 'Virastava Prakīrṇaka' into English for the benefit of those readers as well as for those who would enjoy reading them in English as much, if not more, as in Hindi. The exhaustive preface and original text with foot-notes have been taken from the Hindi edition of the work prepared by Dr. Subhash Kothari and edited by
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