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જ્ઞાનાંજલિ
such important texts as Vasudevahindi, Brhatkalpasutrabhasya, Angavija, and Nandisutta. To the outsider these are just texts taken from the vast field of Jain literature. But those acquainted with the subject know that each of these editions initiated or will initiate a distinct line of research within the realın of Jain studies. It was with the belp of the Vasudevahirdi edition that the writer's Guru Professor ALSDORF could critically survey both the origins of Jain mythology and the literary tradition starting with Gunadhya's famous Brhatkatha ( and which includes the Kathasaritsagara of Somadeva ). Again it is mainly with the help of the Brhatkalpasutrabhasya edition that a systematic study of the Bhasya-phase of Jain literature can be undertaken. And again is it the Nandisutta edition ( to be followed by an edition of the Anuogasutta ) which will supply the theoretical background for a study of the Bhasyas and the other early commentaries. Last but not least is it a rare text like Angavijja which will supply the basis for a systematic study of prognostication as practised by the early Jain community.
But Muni PUNYAVIJAYA knew that the responsibility of a scholar is not restricted to the work just under his hands. There were wider responsibilities. When Muni PUNYAVIJAYA started his work as a scholar, thousands of ancient manuscripts were in a rather precarious condition, lying as they did in old-fashioned Bhandars, always accessible to the action of deteriorating forces, but not always accessible to the eye of the scholar. Muni PUNYAVIJAYA changed the situation. It is due to his initiative that the manuscripts of Jaisalmer, Cambay and Pattan are now arranged and accommodated in a manner which answers to modern requirements. It was also the Maniji who prepared for the first time adequate catalogues of the collections just mentioned (some of these still await publication ). Muni PUNYAVIJAYA was also not unaware of the growing appreciation of Indian miniature painting. Here too he collected and studied material which has so far received little or no attention.
It is not my duty to supply a detailed account of Muni PUNYAVIJAYA's activities. This will Be done by other contributors who are more competent. It would however be ungrateful if I did not mention that the Mniji supplied to my Guru Professor ALSDORF in 1939 a' manuscript of a work almost unknown upto that day : Silanka's Cauppannamahapurisacariya. It was on the basis of this manuscript (and of two other
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