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INTRODUCTION.
about fifty years. The vowels e and o are all top-marked. It is very carelessly aud ignorantly written; full of sanskritisms and misspellings; e. g., kostae for kotthae in § 126, hiranya for hiranna in § 127; somniena for soņiena in $ 129, etc. It appears, however, to have been copied from a good original, as, now and then, it shows unusually correct forms; e. g., Anando in § 92, michchhadiitthi in $ 93, tubbha in § 173, karenti and padisunanti in $$ 174, 175. Occasionally it also shows peculiar readings; e. g., hanemi in $ 129, saddāvei in $ 139. I owe this MS. to the kindness of Rāja Rājendralāla Mitra, L. L. D., who, at my request, purchased it from a Jain in Murshidābād for the Government collection.
H-MS., belonging to the Library of the “Jain Association of India’ in Bombay, received through the kindness of Mr. Virchand Raghavji Gaudhi, the Honorary Secretary of that Association. It is written on paper, and consists of 26 leaves, with 13 lines of about 42 akşara each. It is not provided with the usual țabbā, but has occasional Sanskrit glosses on the margin or between the lines. It is dated Samvat 1740 (= 1683 A. D.), Phāguņa, sudi, Saturday ; and is stated to have been written for the recitation (vūchanāya) of Bhūvana Sāgar, the disciple of Nayana Vishāla Ji, the disciple of the Bhattāraka Jinaranga Sūri; and to have been revised (shodhita) by Pandit Bhūvana Sāgar himself. The last mentioned circumstance accounts for the comparative excellence of this MS.; traces of the revising hand of the “ Pandit” are visible throughout; it also shows in several places the only correct forms, e. g., santosie in 8 48, ajjappabhiim in $ 58 and 68, etc. Curiously, however, it contains a rather long lacuna, omitting the whole from antevasi in § 76 down to jahū pannattie in $ 79, though there is no portion of the MS. lost. It is said to contain 812 grantha. It may be noted that the vowels e and o are uniforinly top-marked.
Of these eight authorities for the text, I was able to use
