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Foreward makes easy for them to do their research work. For example, the entry on agama would be illustrative to show this.
In the beginning of our work on the āgamas, we had conceived a plan for preparing a cyclopedic dictionary. Late Shri Mohanlal Banthia had taken up this task in his hand. Many works like ‘Leśyä-kośa' got edited and have already been published. In fact, it has been a very extensive task. The speed with which it is being accomplished is relatively too slow to be completed in a short time. and hence it will take its own time. On the basis of this line of thinking, this work of compiling some needed dictionaries was entrusted to Sādhvi Vimalprajñā and Sadhvi Siddhaprajñā. They have done the work within a relatively shorter time. The first volume of this cyclopedia got published as early as 1996 and was very much appreciated by the scholars. Now, the second volume, which is being published, is in the hands of the readers. This volume is very much useful for the scholars of ethics, its historical value is also not less.
The bhāsyas on the Brhatkalpa, Vyavahāra and Niśitha are voluminous works (on the Jain Ethics). It is a stupendous task to select some topics from them, but the dedication to work of Sadhvi Vimalaprajñā and Sādhvi Siddhaprajñā has made it easier. Muni Dulharăjjî has systematized the work by thorough counselling. Samaņi Ujjvala Prajñā and Sadhvi Darśanavibhā have done a laborious job in preparing the manuscript and compiling the appendices as well as doing the job of proofreading
Acārya Mahāprajña
Siriyāri 12 November 2004 Vīra Nirvāņa-divasa
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