पवनदूतम् /3
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The
PREFACE.
information about the Pavanadūta was first brought
to the notice of scholars by Mahāmahopadhyāya Haraprasāda
S'astri in his Notices of Sanskrit Manuscripts. It was in the
year 1905 that the text of it was edited for the first time
by the late Manomohan Chakravarti in the pages of the
Journal and Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.
He edited it from one single manuscript which seems
to have been full of a great many errors and inaccuracies.
There were hopelessly corrupt passages in it as deciphered
by him. And in the absence of a second manuscript it was
not possible for him to elucidate all of them by way of
suggesting emendations. It is of course true that in many
cases he was able to suggest happy emendations which
are found to agree with the readings of the new manuscript
which I have been able to collate. But I must confess
without meaning any discredit to that learned scholar, thu
the text of the Pavanaduta as published by him contains
a great many corrupt passages which battle all attempts at
any kind of interpretation. In these circumstances it was
most desirable that a correct edition of this book based on
the collation manuscripts should be published in a separate
book form particulary in view of the fact that, being buried
in the pages of a journal, the already published text of it
is inaccessible and even unknown to many at present.
The Sanskrit Sahitya Parisat, therefore, decided to bring out
an edition of it and I was asked to undertake the work
of editing it.
1. Notices of Sanskrit Mss. Vol. I. pp. 221-22.
2. J. A. S. B.-1905-pp. 41 ff.
PREFACE.
information about the Pavanadūta was first brought
to the notice of scholars by Mahāmahopadhyāya Haraprasāda
S'astri in his Notices of Sanskrit Manuscripts. It was in the
year 1905 that the text of it was edited for the first time
by the late Manomohan Chakravarti in the pages of the
Journal and Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.
He edited it from one single manuscript which seems
to have been full of a great many errors and inaccuracies.
There were hopelessly corrupt passages in it as deciphered
by him. And in the absence of a second manuscript it was
not possible for him to elucidate all of them by way of
suggesting emendations. It is of course true that in many
cases he was able to suggest happy emendations which
are found to agree with the readings of the new manuscript
which I have been able to collate. But I must confess
without meaning any discredit to that learned scholar, thu
the text of the Pavanaduta as published by him contains
a great many corrupt passages which battle all attempts at
any kind of interpretation. In these circumstances it was
most desirable that a correct edition of this book based on
the collation manuscripts should be published in a separate
book form particulary in view of the fact that, being buried
in the pages of a journal, the already published text of it
is inaccessible and even unknown to many at present.
The Sanskrit Sahitya Parisat, therefore, decided to bring out
an edition of it and I was asked to undertake the work
of editing it.
1. Notices of Sanskrit Mss. Vol. I. pp. 221-22.
2. J. A. S. B.-1905-pp. 41 ff.