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FOREWORD
The Prakrit Text Society has great pleasure, indeed, in publishing the first revised edition of A History of the Canonical Literature of the Jainas by Professor H. R. Kapadia.
Sheth Amritlal Kalidas Doshi requested the author to revise the work. He conceded the request and revised the work. In revision he rarely made amendments or deletions. Mostly he made additions in the body of the text as also in foot-notes. He wrote additions in his own handwriting in separate sheets of paper. The revised copy of the printed book and the sheets of paper containing additions he handed over to Sheth A. K. Doshi who gifted all this material to Dr. Nagin J. Shah. And Dr. Shah gave the material to the Prakrit Text Society with a request to publish it. The Society assigned him the work of editing it. And the result is the present publication.
The editor has inserted the additions in the body of the text and in the foot-notes at proper places. Again, he has translated into English several Gujarati passages quoted in the work. He himself has corrected the proofs.
The author has not given the bibliography of the works referred to or quoted by him. So we should understand that he has utilised the Agamic works published by the Jaina organisations before 1941 A.D. which is the year of publication of the first edition of the work.
Winternitz's A History of Indian Literature Vol. II still remains an authentic source-book of the Jaina canonical literature. In seven volume Jaina Sahitya kā Brhad Itihāsa (Hindi), the first two volumes are devoted to the treatment of the Jaina canonical literature. All these seven volumes are available in Gujarati translation. Dr. K. K. Dixit's Early Jainism is a good introduction to Jaina Āgama works. It is an interesting tiny of 100 pages.
The present work is a good addition to the works on the Jaina canonical literature. It is hoped that its publication will be of immense value to the students and scholars of Jainology.
The Prakrit Text Society Ahmedabad, March 15, 2010
R. M. Shah Secretary
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