कान्हड़दे प्रबन्ध (कवि पद्मनाभ - जालोर चौहान वीरगाथा, अलाउद्दीन खिलजी से युद्ध व जौहर इतिहास)

INTRODUCTION 31
The Old Western Rājasthānī orthography is not fixed. The
different manuscripts give a variety of forms of the same word. I have,
generally, tried to select the form which is philologically more correct,
or is the direct predecessor of the standard modern Gujarati form.
Thus, for instance, मांहि is preferred to मांहिं, माहि, माहिँ etc., as a form from
which the Modern Gujarati मां is directly derived. At times, when in
a portion of the text all the manuscripts fail to give the standard Old
Western Rājasthānī form, I have not hesitated to restore it on the
evidence found elsewhere in the text.
In constituting the text due consideration is given to the context
and grammatical accuracy. Readings more suitable contextually, syn-
tactically and grammatically are given preference over the rest though
found only in a minority of manuscripts. Nuances of current speech
have been another criterion for selection of readings. If a word is
used generally in a particular context, it is preferred to all variants
in that context though these variants may occur in a larger number
of manuscripts.
Similarly metrical considerations, including the observance of
initial or final rhyme have also been helpful in determining the text.
Thus, a reading metrically more suitable is preferred, though it may
not be fully representative.
Preference is given to the older forms over later ones, and to
owr forms over their Sanskritizations. If a reading is faulty, and
the corresponding correct standard form is found elsewhere in the text
or in other owr works of the same period the latter is restored.
It is an undisputed fact that Old Western Rājasthānī, which
can be called either Old Gujarātī or Old Rājasthānī, was the speech of
a wide area, which included both North Gujarāt and Southern and
Western Rājasthān including a part of Mālwā. The form of speech
used in Gujarat and Rājasthān then reveals just dialectical variations
almost like the Kāṭhiāwaḍī and Surtī dialects of Modern Gujarātī.
This poem, belonging, as it does, to Southern Rājasthān must have
contained numerous Rājasthānī traits in the original. In restoring
the text I have thought it necessary to give preference to Rājasthānī
forms found in Rājasthānī mss like AKL, or characteristically Rājas-
thānī forms in other mss, such as those encountered in old Rājasthānī
classics like Ḍholāmārurā Duhā or Gorā Bādal Padamaṇī Chaupaī.
Occasionally, a single manuscript preserves a lectio difficilior,
which all the rest either simplify or corrupt. In all such places I