Pasanahchariyam

Author(s): Padmkirti
Publisher: Prakrit Text Society Ahmedabad

Page 11

In these notes efforts have also been made to identify the kings, places, trees etc. mentioned in the text. 5. In the Introduction the following matters have been discussed :(i) The two manuscripts on the basis of wbich the printed text has been prepared are
fully discribed. One of the two manuscripts is about 500 years old, (ii) The principles on which the printed text has been constructed have been formulated, (iii) Although the date of the author is found mentioned in the colophon of one of the
manuscripts, scholars have differed about interpretation of the expression. The question has been discussed here fully and an effort has been made to fix the date accurately
with the help of some pertinent epigraphical records. (iv) The work deals with the life of Pārsvanātha together with an account of his previous
nine births. These accounts have been critically compared with the life and accounts of Pārsvanātha as given in other works written prior or posterior to our author. The manner and style of narrating previous births as developed in previous literature have been traced in this context. The evidence on the historicity of Pārsva has been reviewed and critically discussed. Pārsva's teachings have been critically examined and an attempt has been made to show that these teachings though not different fundamentally from those of Mahavira
had yet a different conception and form. (iv) A cultural study of Pāsanāhacariu has been attempted. (vii) The poetic merits of Pāsanāhacariu have been estimated as follows :(a) Its form and style have been discussed, its vocabulary has been examined and the
peculiar tendencies of its language are noted. (bl Poetic talents as revealed in the description of the seasons, the battle etc. have
been estimated. (c) The metrical style of the poem has deen analysed and the different metres used
have been explained on the basis of the available works on Sanskrit, Prakrit and
Apabhramśa metres.
(d) A grammatical analysis of the work has been made and its special features noticed. Thus, the present Apabhramsa work namely Pāsanāhacariu of Padmakirti has been critically edited, translated and studied from all literary points of view and an attempt has been made to present the life and teachings of Pārsvanātha as far as possible from all available literature on the subject.
P. K. Modi