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INTRODUCTION
13
times all the available readings are given, including the one that is accepted in the constituted text. When there are three MSS. for a reading, I have recorded below the readings of those which are not accepted. But if it is j that is accepted, its reading is duly recorded below. When there are only two MSS., I have recorded the readings of both in the footnotes. In Prakrits, due to subtle dialectal signification, every syllable assumes importance in some cases; so I have tried to be as exhaustive as possible in noting down the readings. If I have given more than what is strictly required, I hope I have erred on the safer side. Though various readings in Prakrits start more from individual syllables than words, I have given usually words in the foot-notes. This may involve a bit more spece, but it makes the critical apparatus readable and not some cryptic and symbolic presentation. When certain gathās are found only in a single Ms., they had to be presented with minor emendations; but in all such cases the actual readings are noted below in the foot-notes. In short, I have placed all the useful material, in the light of which I have constituted the critical text, at the disposal of an intelligent reader, so that he might be in a position to weigh the evidence for himself and judge the merits of the selected reading.
The Sanskrit commentary is edited here from a single Ms., rather an unsatisfactory transcript of the Bikaner MS. I saw no prospect of securing another copy; and even as it stands, it is an useful aid in interpreting the text. With care and caution I have presented the commentary, and I hope, in quite a readable form. The lacunae had to be filled and the incorrect passages duly corrected in the light of the Prākrit text and with the help of the context and conjecture. In those cases where I felt some doubt I have given the actual readings syllable for syllable. Many sentences are syntactically unsatisfactory, but I have allowed them to remain as they are. The various peculiarities (see p. 5 above) are normalised, and the commentary is presented in a standardised orthography. The Dandas are added according to the sense, and at times to correspond to those in the Prākrit text. Commas (in a few places) and inverted commas are used for short pauses and quotations. Quotations are checked in the light of their sources wherever possible; if they show different readings, they are starred; and references are added in square brackets, especially those to Hemacandra's Präkrit grammar. The Prakrit expressions are not joined with Sanskrit ones by Samdhi; and even between Sanskrit words Samdhi is not rigorously forced. The Prākrit readings are allowed to remain as they are in the Sanskrit commentary,
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