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FOREWORD When a little over two years ago Prof. Ram Swarup Bhargava, Jotishacharya, founded the Kushal Astrological Research Institute at 52 C. Model Town, Lahore, he asked me to recommend an old work on astrology which he could publish from his institute. I happened to have in my possession at that time a manuscript of Hema prabha Suri's Trailokya. prakasa belonging to the Jain Bhandar Attached to the Svetan bar temple. Ambala city. I suggested this work to Prot Rim Swarup. He readily accepted it and the act of copying it was commenced at once. After two years' labour It is now published, and I am asked to write a forcword to it. Naturally I am glad to see my suggestion carried out 20 ably and promptly and it gives me much pleasure to add a foreword to the book.
Prof Ram Swarup has earned a wide reputation in the Punjab as an efficient astrologer. The staff working under him is well-trained and highly qualified. The editing of the Trailok yaprahasa has been carefully done. I should however point out or e instance where I differ from the learned editor. It is the reading of verse 7. He has selected gone I (?) AJTam whereas the readings found in other MSS are *017. YAA, auta, puna in place of zal I Mr Mul Raj Jain who published a brief notice of Trilokya. prakave in the Jain Satya Prakash of Ahmedabad for June 1944 committed the same mistake by accepting al in preference to Tara Evidently the instrument referred here is sularb a synonyin ut usturlah which means an Astrolabe, an important instrument of the Greeks and the Arabs. Both the forms surlab and usturlab are recorded by Steingass in his Pey 54.271English Dictionary, Oxford, 1930 The readings relegated to the footnote by Prof. Ram Swarup amply support my suggestion. Clearly gug 18 & copuist's error while the other words are Indian modifications of surab, as there are so many other examples of modified words.
Here I may add a few words on the place of astrology in Jainism So far as theories and dogmas go, the Jams believe that every soul is the maker of its own career-both past and future Every moment the souls moving in thc cycle of transmigration, are doing actions bs deed word re thought and
