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VĪRASTAVA-PRAKIRNAKA
TRANSLATOR'S NOTE
Jaina canonical works are a treasure trove of spiritual and cultural heritage of India. However, the knowledge of these works is hidden behind the veil of Prākrta language which is no longer an in language that it used to be when these works were codified. Yeomen services have been rendered from time to time by various scholars, both monks and house-holders, to render some of these works into Hindi and, in rare cases, into English. As a result, the English-speaking readership is more or less deprived of this treasure.
The case of Prakīrnakas is still worse as their Hindi translations themselves were taken up, in an organized manner, only a few years ago. To my knowledge, no effort has so far been made to translate them into English except six Prakīrnakas translated by me and published by the Samisthāna in the year 2001 to 2003. I, therefore, feel a justifiable sense of elation and fulfillment on this near maiden effort in the field of translating the Prakīrnakas into English.
Translations are, at the best of times, only shadows of the originals. The problem becomes more acute when the original happens to be in as ancient a language as Prākrta and the language of translation a western language as English. As exact equivalent words are not only difficult to come by, but, in some cases, well nigh impossible to find, one has to be content with a word, phrase or term nearest to the original meaning. It has been my endeavour to adhere as close to the original meaning as is possible given the limitations of a translation.
My task of translating this work - Vīrastava-Prakīrnakainto English was very much simplified by the Hindi version of the work, by Dr. Subhash Kothari and Prof. Sagarmal Jain, having been made available to me. I am deeply indebted to these scholars,
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