Preface to volume 4

Volume IV of the translation of the Triṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacaritra, as well as Volume III, was completed in India under a grant from the American Philosophical Society. The press copy of the translation of the text was delivered to the publisher in May, 1948. I received the last of the galley proof of the text in September, 1951.

As for the earlier volumes, I had the advice and assistance of Śāntamūrti Muni Śrī Jayantavijayaji, disciple of the late Ācārya Vijaya Dharma Sūri, through Book VI. His death in December, 1948, was a great loss to Indological scholarship, as well as to the Jain community. His devotion to pure scholarship was unusual and of great benefit to all students with whom he came in contact. He was especially generous with his time to foreign students. I am under obligation to H. M. Shah, B.A., of Ahmedabad, for his help as interpreter-correspondent for many years.

I am indebted to Śrī Muni Puṇyavijayaji, disciple of Caturvijayaji, for information and assistance throughout my stay in Baroda, especially on Book VII. He is a learned scholar, most liberal with his time and knowledge.

As always, I received every assistance from the staff of the Oriental Institute, especially from the Jain Pandit, L. B. Gandhi, from whose thorough knowledge of Jain texts I have always profited; from Pandit K. S. Ramasvami Shastri Siromani for information on Brahmanical points; from J. S. Pade, M.A., Librarian, and Mr. M. A. Joshi, Technical Assistant. The Director, Dr. B. Bhattacharyya, gave me every facility until his retirement during the publication of this volume.

Prof. P. E. Dumont of Johns Hopkins University was kind enough to discuss some Brahmanical questions.

In addition to the Poona and Bhavnagar MSS that I used for the preceding volumes, I had loans from the Jnana Mandir in Baroda and one from the collection in Chāṇī, an excellent MS, a copy, they said, of a very old one. I am deeply appreciative of the liberality of the Jain libraries in lending their MSS, which so far exceeds that of the libraries in this country.

Where words are spelled sometimes with a long and sometimes with a short vowel, e.g. Malli and Mallī, I have followed the text.

The Sanskrit words that have been retained in the translation are included in the English Index with an explanation for the reader who does not know Sanskrit. These entries are illustrative, not exhaustive. Complete references will be found in the Sanskrit Index.

Helen M. Johnson.

OSCEOLA, Mo.
February 11, 1953