Preface 1. Preliminary-" After having gone over to Allahabad and stayed there for about twenty years, I wanted to reach an д of the literature and the place which had conferred many obligations on me. I served the Allahabad University for about twenty years from 1927 to 1946, and it would have been a breach of trust for me not to have studied Hindi literature, and placed its spiritual value on the pedestal of Comparative Philosophy and Religion. So I began my studies early in 1940, and, after retirement, I find that the treasure which has been left to us by the Hindi Saints is as valuabe as that given to us by the Saints of Maharashtra or Karnatak." "From 1940 onwards to 1946 I developed a certain taste for Hindi mysticism at the hands of whom shall I say to you? at the hands of my door-keeper, chaprasi, and barber. These persons knew excellent Hindi songs, and I was tempted to enter into the mean- ing of them. But what seed these and a few of my students at the time sowed, developed after my retirement from the University into a full-blowing plant. In these words, I summarised my early acquaintance with Hindi literature in my lectures delivered at the Rashtrapati Bhavan and the Constitution Club at New Delhi in March 1952. - 2. Preparation of the work-(a) Origin― Among the students with whom I came into contact for my early Hindi studies, I may mention
