Page:The Vedanta-sutras, with the Sri-bhashya of Ramanujacharya.djvu/14

 and proper understanding of the text of the translation. With the object of enabling the readers to make out easily the nature and the relations between the various parts of the closely reasoned arguments to be found in this volume, we have given in the beginning an analytical outline of the contents of the volume. A table showing our system of transliteration and a list containing the abbreviations used by us are given at the end of the volume. The word atman is used in Sanskrit to denote the Brahman as well as the jiva; hence it has been translated as Self where it denotes the former and as self where it denotes the latter; and the pronouns who and which have been more or less indiscriminately used in relation to both of them. The word karman has been uniformly used in the form of karma, and its plural is given as karmas, as these forms seem to have become fairly current in English. The printing work has had to be done somewhat hurriedly, and a few errors have unavoidably crept in. The more serious ones among them are pointed out and corrected in a list of errata appended hereto. We do not know how far our English rendering of the Sri-Bhashya is all that it should be, but we have spared no pains to make it as good as we can. We are well aware that it is capable of much improvement; and yet it may not perhaps be too much to hope that our attempt to present faithfully in English the thoughts of one of India's great teachers and religious reformers will be productive of some good in the way of helping on the world's appreciation of India's philosophic integrity and religious earnestness.

NOVEMBER, 1899. ) M. R.

MADRAS. ) M. V. B.