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General Editor's Preface The Mūlašūddhi, also called Sthanaka, that is being published here for the first time is a Jain religious text in Prakrit, written in the eleventh century by Pradyumna Sūri of the Pūrņatalla Gaccha. A Sanskrit commentary on this work with illustrative stories in Prakrit (except one which is in Apabbramsa) was written in 1089-1090 A. D. by Devacandra Sūti. He was a disciple of Gunasena Sūri, who himself was a disciple of Pradyumna Sūri, This Devacandra Sūri is the same as the Guru of the famous polymath Hemacandrācārya, The present volume contains the first part of the text of the Mülašuddhi (based on six manuscripts) and the commentary (based on five Mss.). The rest of the original and the commentary will form the secoud.volume.
The Mülasuddhi itself is in the long tradition of Jain religious and didactic tracts. It prescribes the duties of a Jain believer with regard to sacred images, temples and texts and to the fourfold Samgha. As such it has little claim to a wider interest or importance. But it is quite differnt with Devacandra Sūri's commentary (henceforth referred to as MC.). It contains numerous religious tales and narratives (Akhyānakas, Kathānakas and Udaharanas) and in this respect it is in no way different from a Katbākoša type of talecollection. Further it forms a link in the long series of similar commentaries or religiousdidactic works that contain sizeable collections of illustrative stories. The portion of the commentary covered by the present volume contains thirtyfour (or if we count the two subtales, thirtysix) tales. Apart from their general relevance for the study of tale-motifs and tale-types, Indian and non-Indian, they are quite valuable for investigating the sources and parallels for several widely current and interesting Jain narratives. Here we find. for example, the stories of Müladeva, King Samprati (along with that of Candragupta and Canakya), Kālakācārya, Khapuțācārya, Candanā, Ārdrakumāra, Raubiņeya, Kịtapunya and Ārāmasobhā among others. There are numerous earlier and later recasts, parallels, versions and adaptations of many of these stories in Jain works written in Sanskrit, Prakrit, Old Gujarati and other old languages. All these require to be studied comparatively so that we can trace their evolution in correlation to changing cultural conditions prevalent at different periods. We have already some noteworthy efforts of varying scope in this direction, e. g.. the studies pertaining to the stories of Agadadattai (L. Alsdorf), Manipatia (R. Williams), Jambūsyāmin 3-4 (A. Shah, V.P. Jain), Samba-Pradyumnas (M. Shah), Candana-Malayāgiris (R. Jani), Sadayavatsa-Savalimga? (A. Nahta,, M. Majmudar), Kāșthašreşthin (H. Bhayani) etc. These studies have different orientations, some concentrating on the literary-historical aspect and others on the folk-tale aspect. O. the stories mentioned above those o. Muladeva, Kālaka and Arama sobha have been so far fortunate in receiving scholarly attention. Bloomfield's pioneering effort to study the Müladeva cycle now requires to be supplemented by a comparative historical treatment of all the available materials, Brown's study of the Kalaka 1. A New Version of the Agadadatta story, New Indian Antiquary, Vol. 1, p. 281-299. 2. R. Williams, Two Prakrit Versions of the Manipaticarita, 1959. 3. R. C. Shah, Yošovijayji krut Jambusvămi-Rās, 1961, 4. V. P. Jain, Vir-kavi-viracit Jambūsämicariu, 1968. 5 M. B. Shah, The Pradyumna Tale in Medieval Gujarati Literature (Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Univer
sity of Bombay, 1967). 6. RN. Tani. "The Jaina and Non-Jaina Versions of the Popular Tale of Candana-Malayagiri from Prakrit and
other Early Literary Sources', Mahavir Jaina Vidyālaya Golden Jubilee Vol. part I, 1968, p. 225-232. A Nahta. Sadayavatsa Sävalimga Ki Prem-kathā', Rajasthan-Bharati, Vol. 3, 1, p. 49 f; M.Majmudar.
Sadayavatsa Vira Prabandha, 1961, & HC Bhayani, The Magic Bird-Heart', Bharatiya Vidya, 23. 1-4, 1963, 99-114; Sodh ane Svädhyāy. 1965. D.
43-74; Katha-seth-ni Damtakathā' Lokagurjari, 5, 1968, 1-2. The Character and Adventures of Maladeva'. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 52,616-650. See also Bloomfield's Foreword to Tawney-Penzer. The Ocea nof Story, Vol. 7, p. XII; A. N. Upadhye, Th Dhúrtakhyana, a Critical Study' in Haribhadra's Dhurtākhyāna, ed. by Jinavijaya Muni, 1944, 23.
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