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GENERAL EDITOR'S FOREWORD
Pandit Nathuram Premi, the Mahāpurāņa of Puşpadanta was, as said above, edited by Dr. P. L. Vaidya and published in the Māņikyacandra Digambar Jain Granthmālā. The remaining work, the Paümacariu of Svayambhū has been taken up for editing by my learned pupil Dr. Bhayani and its first part comprising the first Kānda (the Vidyādhara-kāņda) is happily published herewith.
When Prof. Bhayani requested me to allow him to work under my guidance for the Ph.D. degree of the University of Bombay, I advised him to take up some Apabhramśa text for that purpose and accepting that advise whole-heartedly, he started in all earnestness to study Apabhraíśa literature.
Already Prof. (now Dr.) Bhayani had acquired sound knowledge of Sanskrit. He held an M.A. degree of the Bombay University with the first class in that subject. But I found him more attracted towards linguistic studies and therefore I asked him to familiarize himself with Prakrit and especially with Apabhramsa literature. Later on at my suggestion he undertook to study several aspects of that unique Apabhramśa poem, Sandeśarāsaka of Abdala Rahamāna, then being edited by me. This study along with my edition of that poem has been published as the Twenty-second Volume of the Singhi Jain Series. After that in collaboration with Prof. M. C. Modi he edited the Paumasiricariu of Dhāhila Kavi which has appeared as the Twenty-fourth Volume of the same series.
Finding him now well-equipped I induced him to take up for his Ph.D. thesis the work of editing Svayambhū's Paümacariu, which, as stated above, occupied first place among all the works of Apabhramsa literature available to us and hence to bring it out was my persistently cherished desire. In view of the great extent of the work it was decided that in the first instance he should prepare a critical edition of the first Kānda only of that work and should confine his textual and general studies to that portion. It hardly needs to be told that the present volume is the result of these studies of Prof. Bhayani. In view of its merits, the University of Bombay has accepted this thesis and its editor has been awarded a doctorate. This success of my beloved pupil was naturally a matter of great pleasure to me and I also take this opportunity to offer him my cordial congratulations for that.
Though, in this way, Dr. Bhayani had completed his task so far as his immediate purpose of preparing a doctorate dissertation was concerned, in view of his intense interest in Apabhramsa studies, I urged him to edit whole of the Paümacariu. He accepted the task gladly and continued his work on that text. And in this connection I am very glad to note here that the printing of the second and third Kānda of the Paümacariu is nearing completion
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