About the Book In spite of its crucial position as the link between the classical Indian literatures of Sanskrit and Prakrit, and the early modern vernacular literatures of North India (from Braj Bhasa, Gujarati, Bengali, Hindi...), Apabhramsa language and literature remains probably one of the most understudied fields of Indology and Indian studies. The Paumacariu of the Jaina poet Svayambhudeva, narrating the. Jaina version of the story of the Ramayana, is the earliest masterpiece of Apabhramsa epic literature, and possibly the oldest specimen of Apabhramsa literature available. Half a century after the legendary Harivallabh Chunilal Bhayani published the excellent critical edition, Eva De Clercq engaged in a critical study of this text, including an analysis of its grammar.

The book "The Apabhramsa of Svayambhudeva’s Paumacariu" gives a full systematic descriptive overview of its phonological and morphological characteristics, disclosing new material for scholars of historical and comparative linguistics. To those who wish to read and research this and other Apabhramsa texts themselves, it will provide a valued tool.

Preface This book is based on a chapter of my doctoral thesis, A Critical Study of Svayambhudeva's Paumacariu, written (in Dutch) on a doctoral grant from the Special Research Fund of Ghent University (Belgium) between 1999 and 2003 under the promotorship of my guru Frank Van Den Bossche. His clear and practical description of the Prakrits in his A Reference Manual of Middle Prakrit Grammar (1999) was my main inspiration for this chapter. I would like to thank him, first and foremost, for his introducing me to the study of Middle Indic languages and Jainism and for his guidance and patience. I further wish to thank Prof. Dr. M. D. Vasanth Raj, who gave up many hours of his time in the summer of 2002 to advise me on the particulars of South Indian Jainism in my research. I also wish to express my gratitude to my closest colleagues in Ghent, Prof. Dr. Eddy Moerloose and Dr. Erik Seldeslachts, for supporting me and reviewing my work.

I would like to thank the Bhandarkar Oriental Institute in Pune and the Apabhramsa Sahitya Academy in Jaipur, for granting me access to the manuscripts of the Paumacariu, and the people from the L.D. Institute of Indology in Ahmedabad and the B.L. Institute of Indology in Delhi, who were very accommodating in assisting me in my research at their libraries.

Many other people advised and helped me along the way, to whom I owe many thanks: Prof. Dr. Hampa Nagarajayah, Prof. Dr. V. M. Kulkarni, Prof. Dr. Siddharth Wakankar, Prof. Dr. H. C. Bhayani, Prof. Dr. John Brockington, Prof. Dr. Paul Dundas, Prof. Dr. Christophe Vielle, Prof. Dr. V.P. Jain, Prof. Dr. Nalini Balbir, Prof. Dr. Vit Bubenik, Dr. Jitendra Shah, Dr. K. C. Sogani, Dr. D.K. Jain, Dr. Whitney Cox and Manish Modi.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages