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like Das Ramayana by eminent Indologists like Professor Jacobi,
after identifying and eliminating what may be regarded as later addi-
tions or accretions. The chief purpose kept in view in this edition
is to present the whole text of the Ramayana, with all the seven
Kandas, as generally recognised by Indian tradition since the time
of Kalidasa and Asvaghosa to this day, in accordance with certain
typical manuscripts of South India and the well-known Bombay
recension as embodied in the editions printed in Bombay. The
publisher of this edition proposes also to bring out, as early as prac-
ticable, a critical edition of the text of the Ramayana, together and
in accordance with the famous commentary called Kataka, by
Madhavayogin. Arrangements for the publication of this commentary
are in progress. Kataka is the clarifying nut which clarifies muddled
water; and the commentary called Kataka seeks to clarify the
muddled stream of the Rāmāyaṇa text, by separating the spurious
from the genuine parts. When the projected edition of the text with
the Kataka comes to be published, modernists interested in modern
methods of textual criticism will find ample opportunities for using
the material in the Kataka and its text with great advantage.
There are two ways of handling the Ramayana. One may be
called the scientistic way and the other the artistic way. The former
is a long, devious and uneven path, dark except for occasional glim-
mer and fit only for a certain class of tough-minded workers; and the
mentality of one who pursues it must needs be very similiar to that
of a botanist or anatomist who tears to pieces a beautiful flower or
a handsome human form in his quest for the pith or the truth. The
scientistic way is indeed a great way; but it is not for all and certainly
not the way of the tender-minded, not the way of those who would
pursue the sweet path of charm and response. And the appropriate
way for the tender-minded is the latter way, the artistic way, which
is as good as, and certainly sweeter than the other way and which
the tough-minded also would like to pursue at least as a pleasant
diversion. The present edition of the text of the Ramayana is mainly
intended for those who pursue the artistic way. It is intended for
those who have the well-grounded belief that the bulk of the Rămă-
yana, with its present extent and contents, including the Balakanda
together with the suggestive episode culminating in the delightful
पृष्ठम्:श्रीमद्वाल्मीकिरामायणम्.pdf/१९
एतत् पृष्ठम् अपरिष्कृतम् अस्ति
