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CONSTITUTION AND PRESENTATION OF THE
INANĀRNAVA TEXT
The text of the Jñõnārņava is critically constituted with the help of 17 MSS. They hail from different parts, especially from western India and Karnatak. Two of them are in Kannad characters and rest of them in Nagari. Most of them bear no dates of coping. Among the dated one P is the earliest ( Sam. 1284 ) and Y comes next (Sam. 1485).
The MS. Pis the earliest dated one. It is well preserved and it is corrected with the help of a MS. possibly earlier than itself. In constituting the text therefore preference is shown, as a rule in accepting the verses genuin and selecting the reading. All the verses which are not found in P are put in square brackets. Every verse thus included is serially numbered at the beginning in Arabic figures. Again in each chapter the verses are numbered in Nagari. In case the verses are 'Uktam' or not found iu P are numbered 1, 2 etc. with a star along with the previous number.
A careful study of readings show that a difficult, absolute, unusual and exceptional readings of P are generally replaced differently in different MSS. As a rule the readings of P are accepted and those of others are noted below. Not only the needs of a text critic are thus satisfied but an attempt to the thirst of a pious reader, such verses as are not found in P are not relegated to footnotes but they are running text itself in square brackets. These are reasons to believe that they are not composed by Subhacandra himself. There is bound to be different opinions about the 'Uktam Ch' verses. Even here P is followed, while those in other MSS. are put in square brackets.
The vary nature of the containts of the Jñānārņava is such that the text is bound to get inflated in course of time in the succession of MSS. Intelligent copiests often add verses of parallel containts, quotations of conformitive characters and explainatory information. At times on the margin which in due course get include in the text. Some of the verses including in the square brackets were as worthy as those in the Jñānārņava, but as long as the earliest known MS. do not admit them the question of their authorship by Subhacandra remains doubtful. It is hoped that the text so presented will be satisfied both the critical students and the pious readers. From the tabulation of the verses found in different MSS. the following facts are obvious.
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