Preface to volume 1

The plan to translate and annotate the whole of the Triṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacaritra, of which the Ādīśvaracaritra is the first book, evolved from the original intention to translate the Mahāvīracaritra. This seemed of sufficient interest to justify the translation of the whole. Its accomplishment was facilitated by a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

This translation was made from the edition of the Ādīśvaracaritra published by the Jainadharmaprasārak Sabhā, Bhavnagar, in 1905. While making the translation, I found so many errors in the text that it was necessary to really reedit it before translating. For this I consulted five MSS: one from the Jñāna Mandir, Baroda; one from the Oriental Institute, Baroda; one from the Bhandarkar Institute, Poona; and two from a Jain library in Bhavnagar. I have also had some readings from a manuscript in the Saṅghana Bhandar, Pattan, and from one at Cambay.

I have attempted throughout to make the subject matter clear to a reader who has no knowledge of Sanskrit, but may be interested in Jainism, or fiction in general. I have, therefore, included a number of notes which are superfluous to the Sanskritist, or one who knows India well. The technical notes and appendices are, of course, intended for the specialist.

Like the majority of Jain texts, the work is rich in new linguistic material. I have included a list of new and rare words, which is sufficient to indicate the material for those interested in that field.

Every technical point has been discussed with sādhus, both with reference to āgama authority and actual practice. Therein lay the difficulty of the work, as the number of persons able to expound Jainism is very limited. Foremost among these are the disciples of the late Vijaya Dharma Suri, known to all students of Jainism for his learning and sympathetic interest. I am greatly indebted to two of his disciples, Muni Jayanta Vijaya Maharaj and Nyayatirtha Nyayavijaya Maharaj for liberal assistance extending over long periods of time, and to his successor, Jainacarya Vijaya Indra Suri; and also to Jainacarya Jaya Suri.

I wish to express my wannest thanks to Prof. N. G. Suru, Fergusson College, for his disinterested help and willing sacrifice of time; to Mr. N. M. Dutt, Curator of State libraries, Baroda, for his cordial interest and valuable suggestions; and to Prof. S. V. Shevade, Baroda College, for information on botanical points.

My most grateful appreciation of his unfailing courtesy in granting every facility and rendering every assistance is due Dr. B. Bhattacharyya, both as Director of the Oriental Institute and publisher of the Gaekwad’s Oriental Series. I am, indeed, under obligation to the entire staff of the Oriental Institute for their sympathetic cooperation—especially Pandit D. B. Gandhi, whose wide knowledge of the āgamas and ability to locate obscure references were invaluable to me, to Pandit K. S. Ramasvami Shastri Siromani for much useful information, and to Mr. K. Rangasvami and Mr. M. A. Joshi for making the Sanskrit Index.

Copies of many Jain texts are very difficult to obtain, and for help in that respect my thanks are due Mr. A. J. Sunavala of Bhavnagar, Mr. P. K. Mody of Ahmedabad, Mr. Motilal Ladhaji of Poona, the Jñāna Mandir of Baroda, and Ātmānanda Sabhā of Bhavnagar.

A new biography of Hemacandra is needed badly, but as I have heard of two under composition, I have deferred the subject.

Helen M. Johnson.

Baroda:
January 10, 1931.