________________
VII
Acknowledgements
It is to a large extent due to the help and encouragement received from Professor Bodewitz that I have managed to complete my doctoral dissertation on the Sattasaf this year, precisely one hundred years after the last part of the 'first edition' by Weber appeared. It has been a pleasure to finalize my studies under the supervision of the person who also guided my first steps into the study of Sanskrit.
I feel deeply indebted to Dr. G. Schokker who introduced me to the study of Prākrit and who has remained ever helpful with suggestions and criticism,
I wish to express my gratitude to Professor 0. von Hinüber with whom I discussed earlier versions of most of the Gathās edited here and who kindly allowed me to profit from his extensive knowledge of Middle Indic languages.
I feel much obliged to Dr. Th. Damsteegt who read the complete final draught and gave many useful comments.
In preparation to the work on this edition I visited several manuscripts libraries in India and Nepal. A subsidy was granted to me by the Netherlands Foundation for the Advancement of Tropical Research (WOTRO) for the expenses involved during the trip. In this connection I should also like to thank Professor K.L. Janert who kindly allowed me to use his extensive library of catalogues of manuscripts collection's, and the authorities of the Government Oriental Manuscripts Library in Madras and of the University Manuscripts Library in Trivandrum for allowing me to photograph several manuscripts from their collections.
Finally I wish to thank my wife Ingrid. All problems arising in connection with the interpretation of the text were first discussed with her. These discussions made the work on the Sattasat a real pleasure.
