Apbhramsa of Hemchandracharya

Author(s): Hemchandracharya, Kantilal Baldevram Vyas, Dalsukh Malvania, H C Bhayani
Publisher: Prakrit Text Society Ahmedabad

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Cambay (Khambhāt) Jñāna-bhandara. According to Ācārya Muni Shri Punyavijayaji it may have been probably a direct copy of one of Acarya Shri Hemacandra's autograph copies, as suggested by its marginalia. It was fragmentary, as some of its folios were missing, was incomplete, and had suffered from ravages of Indian weather. But Acārya Sri Punyavijayaji laid great stress on the paper MS (MS A), copied in 1492 V. S. by Pratistiāsomagani, the celebrated author of the famous 'mahākāvya' AlpāHPT (1468 A.D.) composed in honour of his guru Shri Somasundarasūri of legendary fame. 24 The other two paper MSS--one (MS B) copied by Shri Kșemadhiragani in 1493 V.S., and another (MS C) of 1518 V.S. by some pupil of Lakşmisāgarasūri and Somadevasūri, checked and released by one Vrddhivijaya, to earn religious merit. MSS B and C were also excellent MSS, very useful for comparison and collation.
While preparing a carefully collated text of the Apabhramsa section, the present writer, at a few places, also took note of variants from the two MSS used by Pischel (Pa,Pb), Trivikrama's text of Pakrit Grammar (T), as edited by P. L. Vaidya, and the Prakrit Grammar of Hemachndra, edited earlier by S. P. Pandit and revised later on by Dr. P. L. Vaidya (V). But such instances are indeed few, and the text as set in this study, is mainly collated from the above MSS ABC and D, which the present writer obtained from the Pātan Bhandaras through the good offices of Acārya Shri Punyavijayaji.
These MSS are brieflly described below:
The MS copied by Pratişthāsomagani in V. S. 1492 (MS A) has folios 10.4” long and 4.4" wide.23 A triple line marks off the side-margins, which are generally .7" to .8” broad. The upper and lower margins are about .3" broad. Verses and sütra numbers are indicated by red pigment rubbed over them and the end of the *pāda' is indicated by a deep red mark made with "lākşā',
24 cf. Dr. B. G. Sandesara, Ibid., p. 88. 25 As the Apabhramsa section studied here forms just a small part of a very
extensive MS covering the entire Adhyāya VIII it has not been found necessary to record the number of folios of the section.