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Studies in Jainology, Prakrit
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History of Indian Literature and that too mostly depending on manuscripts. He edited on scientific lines thc Sukla Yajurveda, the Atharva Veda, Jaina Canonical works liks the Bhagavatī-sūtra etc. He also wrote with authority on Panini. He visited India, travelled extensively by way of study-lours, collected several manuscripts, took with him a few of them, deeply studied them and published them on a systematized pattern.
Among such of his publications prominently luminates Hāla’s (Salavahana's) Prakrit Gahāsattasai (Gathāsaptasatī) (c.100 A.D.) - Das Saptasatakam des Hāla". When European countries were caught with an impression that India was a lowly and backward country, filled with poor people, marked with recluses, beggars, snake-charmers etc., through the publication of Das Saptasatakam des Hala, A Weber showed them that even ancient rural India, (c.100 A.D.) was well-cultured with people living a busy colourful life, bubling with love-notes of joy, mirth and tender sentiments and, thus, surprised the former followers of Kippling-Philosophy: Ohl, The East is East, the West is West.
Today? happens to be for us a happy day of the year 1981 -- the Centenary Year of the maiden publication of the Das Saptasatakam des Hala (1881), an important ancient Indian Prakrit anthology of lyrical songs of life and love, given to us by the great German Indologist A.Weber. I, for one, as a part of my tribute to him, would present now a few observations on this anthology and also place before you a novel expreriment of translating into English, Free Verse-Free Quartain, some gahas picked up from A.Weber's critically edited text itsell.
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