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Paramatma-prakāla
Value of P.-prakasa in Oriental Studies-The study of Apabh. dialect sheds abundant light on the history and growth of North-Indian languages including Marathi. P.-prakala is the earliest complete Apabh. work so far known and the first to have been published, though earlier editions did not reach the hands of orientalists. So far as I know, P. D. Gune was the first to list it as an Apabh. work in his Introduction to Bhavisayattakaha. Hemacandra, whose grammar treats Apabh. exhaustively. quotes from P.-präkala; thus this work preserves to us specimens of pre-Hemacandra Apabh. literature actually used by him. Besides this linguistic aspect there is another point of interest in this work. Due to imperfect acquaintance with Jaina literature Jainism is criticised by some scholars as a mere bundle of rules of ascetic discipline or a system metaphysically barren. P.-Prakasa clearly shows what part mysticism plays in Jainism and how it. is worked out in the back-ground of Jaina metaphysics. The Jaina mysticism is sure to be all the more interesting, if we remember the facts that Jainism is polytheistic and denies the creative function of God. These aspects are discussed in detalls in this Introduction.
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Published Editions, etc., of P.-prakasa-In 1909 Babu Suryabhanu Vakil, Devabanda, published P.-Prakata with Hindi translation. The title of the book is Sri Paramatma-prakala Prakṛta Grantha Hindibhaşa arthasahita. The text is inaccurately printed. The editor says in his Prastavana that the Mss. of this work found in Jaina temples are very inaccurate, and it is difficult to restore the correct text by consulting even a score of Mss. An English translation of this work by R. D. Jain is published from Arrah 1915; but this translation is far from being faithful and critical. Then P.-prakata with Brahmadeva's Sk. commentary and Daulatarama's Bhasa-tika (rewritten into modern Hindi by Manoharlal) was published by the Rayachandra Jaina Sastramālā, Bombay, 1916. It was a good edition for all practical purposes, though the Apabh. text needed improvements in many ways.
Nature of this Edition-Though officially this is the second edition in the Rayachandra, J. Sastramala, it will be seen that it is thoroughly revised and enlarged. This Introduction is an additional speciality of this edition. As desired by the publishers the Apabh. text is given as preserved in the Commentary of Brahmnadeva with which it is accompanied. The text and the Sk. commentary are carefully checked with the help of Ms. A; and it will be easily seen that many improvements are made in the text to facilitate an easy understanding. Besides the correction of many slips in the text, hyphens are added in compound words and distinction is made between anunāsika and anusvara. The Sk. shade in this edition is at times independent of Brahmadeva. Orthographical uniformity, etc., have been
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