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PREFACE
This third and last part of the Paumacariu (PC.), containing twentyone Sandhis of the Yuddha Kānda and thirteen Sandhis of the Uttara Kāṇda, completes the long-standing work of editing and publishing this earliest available and quite an outstanding Apabhraṁsa Purāņic epic. Even though it had started printing already in 1953 when the second part appeared, the printing was frequently held up for long stretches due to various causes. Any way, for me it is a matter of no small satisfaction that the work could be at long last completed, jananayaņānanda - janeriya?, āsīsæě savvahỏ keriye ' with the delighting blessings of all', to use Svayambhū's own words. Due to its early age and manifold importance PC. has aroused very keen interest in several scholars, as can be judged from their relevant writings. But several aspects of the work remain yet to be systematically exploited and explored, and some students are in fact currently occupied with a few of them. The quality and range of Svayambhū's poetry too cannot but charm an ever-widening circle of lovers of our classical literature.
There remains now the most pleasant duty of acknowledging obiigations. Keen personal interest and invaluable guidance of Acharya Shri Jina-Vijayaji have been the prime inspiring factor in this undertaking from its start to finish. His vast knowledge of the rich documentary sources of Ancient and Medieval Indian culture, as also his great experience accumulated over a life-time that has been given to searching out, editing and interpreting those sources, was always readily available to me. Above all there was the highly inspiring example of his personal life, plain, straightforward, generous to a fault and dedicated to the cause of learning to such an extent that single-handed, it has achieved what would require work of several life-times. My multiple indebtedness to him cannot be recounted in full, let alone the question of repaying it. The one consolation I can
1.
Besides the accounts, articles etc. of V. M. Kulkarni, Harivamsh Kochar, Rahul Sankrityayan, Bholashankara Vyas and others, there has appeared a Hindi translation of the first 57 Sandhis prepared by Devendrakumara Jain. The translation, however, unfortunately gives the impression of having been done in a hurry and with frequent misunderstanding and rough-handling. This observation applies also with equal force to the PC. text reproduced to accompany that translation. But despite these limitations the effort is to be commended for putting Svayambhū's work within the reach of a wider public,
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