Preface (3) faction at some of the interpretations which I had put on certain Padas and Dohas. b) Selection of Padas and Dohas- It was no simple matter to make a selection from the vast array of Padas and Dohas in Hindi spiritual literature. We may say that novelty of thought coupled with spiritual import was the chief ground for our selection of Padas and Dohas. Some Padas and Dohas however had to be taken in spite of their over-familiarity, as their inner meaning was likely to escape the notice of the mere littérateur. It may be said that we never went out hunting for these Padas and Dohas in books of literature, but only accepted them when they came our way during our discussion and reading with students and friends. As the idea of the Collection of spiritual songs was suggested by the famous Ashrama Bhajanavali of Mahatma Gandhi, the idea of their Paraphrase came from the then recently published work of Shri Viyogi Hari, Sant Vani. The present selection has been divided into two parts, namely, of the Padas and the Dohas, following the usual Hindi method of division into Shabda and Sakhi. The sequential arrangement of the Padas and Dohas, their logical disposition into groups, and their developmental order in the different chapters constitute the essential feature of the work. (c) Text, Annotations, and Paraphrase In the course of the collection of Padas and
