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to the sacred cause of literature, the learned sage accepted the task and by his mighty learning and admirable exertion, has been able to finish up so accurately and admirably the work within the short space of only three years.
Sketch of the life of the great gage.
The great sage, to whose active and constant efforts these volumes owo their compilation was born on Thursday the 12th of
aishākha Sukla Şamvat 1936 in the village of Bhārorā (Kathiawār). His mother's name was Laxmibai and his father was known as Virpal Shāh. After finishing the six books (complete vernacular course) of Gujarātī language, he, according to the family tradition, was initiated into the commercial work in the twelfth year of his life. In this connection he went to places like Bombay, Belāpur (south) Sanāvad (C. I.) with his elder brother for trading purposes. Ho was married in his thirteenth year, Hardly had three years of matrimony rolled on when his doar wifo left this transitory world for over, leaving her only daughter behind. This bereavement tended to intensify the pre-existing and growing desire for seclusion from worldly ties and instead of grief abil sorrow, gave hinn an occasion to qualify himself much more for the sacred Mission of his future life. Accordingly Pandit Sri Ritnachandraji Mahārāj learnt a good deal of the religious principles of ascetic life and received instructions from the great sago Sri Gulābeh'ındraji Swami of Limbdi (Kathiawär). Fortunately his futlier and his elder brother, though following the coinmercial occupation, had in themselves a religious turn of mind and did not, as is not unusual, raise obstacles in his way to asceticism. The affection of a mother, however,is invariably unbounded, and she for her sublinie affection, could not easily permit her young son to sover all connection with household affairs. Thus for a year more he led the life of a layman, but blessed was he all through to conduct his studies in Daśavaikālika, Uttarādhyayana, Thokadās etc. The deep study of the sacred and philosophic works enlightened his vision all the more and in his seventeenth year he became an avowed disciple of the Limbdi sage. As his extremely keen intelligence would have it, he lost not a minute and just began his Sanskrit
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