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INTRODUCTION
धर्मपरीक्षा-अ प्रति वर्णन This is a paper Ms. belonging to the office of the J. S. S.S. Sholapur. It contains 58 folios written on both the sides. It measures 30.5x11.5 Cms. It contains the text of Dharm Pareeksha, written in Nagari characters with marginal notes giving the meanings of words and written in two different handwritings. It is written in black ink and the handwriting is uniform. Uniformaly it uses अनुस्वार & पडिमात्राs. In between the lines there are written referencial marks written in the margin. In words with T as the first member the other consonant is double. The numbers and colophons are covered with the red chalk. Each page contains 14 lines and each line about 50 letters.
The copyist who has written the marginal synonyms often records alternative readings with the remark 'वा पाठः'. The Ms. is very carefully written and on the whole well preserved. The paper is getting brittle and ink-eaten in the written portion. On folio No. 12 in two places because the ink is percolated the space is left blank. There are four margin lines in black ink. In a decorative square there is a blank space left in the middle on each page.
This Ms. shows very often independent readings. e. g, in chapter 16 & 17 certain significant changes have been made in this Ms. The original readings for श्वेताम्बर etc. have been pasted over it by a slip and जटिल etc. are written. The second handwriting is different and generally the marginal note gives the alternative readings. This means someone carefully tries to improve the original readings. The
Ms. opens by the symbol of Bhale ॥६०॥ & ||अह|| Then comes the opening verse. At the end after the colophon of the 20th chapter we have ॥ सूरिवर्य ॥ श्री (6 times) वीरचन्द्रThen ( in a different handwriting ) लिखापितं ॥ छ । ब्रह्मभोजा ब्रह्मकी का पठनार्थ संवत् १५९० वर्षे फागुण सुदि १२ भौमे । अछह श्री व्या (धा ) रा शुम स्थाने। श्रीशांतिनाथचैत्यालये। श्रीमूलसंधे। श्रीसरस्वतीगछे । श्रीबलात्कारगणे । श्रीकुन्दकुन्दाचार्यान्वये। भट्टारक श्री पद्मनन्दिदेवा। स्तत्पट्टे भट्टारक श्रीदेवेंद्रकीतिदेवा। स्तत्पट्टे भट्टारक श्रीविद्यानंदिदेवा। स्तत्पट्टे भट्टारक श्रीमल्लिभूषणदेवा। स्तत्पट्टे भद्वारक श्रीलक्ष्मीचंद्रदेवा। स्तत्पट्टे भट्टारक श्री वीरचन्द्र लिखापितं ॥ ॥
Then in a different hand : म. श्रीलक्ष्मीचन्द्रेईत्तं ।व। श्रीवीरदासाय ॥ In a different hand : सुमतिकोत्तेः पुस्तकं ॥ In a different hand : ब्रह्मश्री कर्मसीना व कृष्णाय इदं पुस्तकं प्रदत्तं ॥ In a different hand: मुनिश्री ५ रविभूषणास्तच्छिष्यब्रह्मगजिष्णोरिदं पुस्तकं ॥ In a different hand: ब्र. देवदास। Thus this Ms. is written in A. D, 1543.
