Preface (7) habad speak more or less a mixture of the two. Here, in our present selection, Kabir, and Rahim sit alongside of Tulsidas and Surdas, as Mansur and Yari do with Raidas and Mirabai. Hindus and Muslims, Touchables and Untouchables, Male and Female devotees of God all join in singing the praises of God. 4. Five-fold significance of the work- We now turn to the five-fold significance of the work which we are publishing. In the first place, the Padas and Dohas of our present volume will certainly be useful to the littérateurs, devotees, and singers of God. Prof. R. B. Athavale, M. A. of Ahmedabad, Dr. N. S. Paripatyadar of Shola- pur, and Shri Gururao Deshpande of the Radio Department, Dharwar, have sung many of the selected Padas in my presence before they could be incorporated in this volume. Shri Girish Chandra Sharma, M. A., now Lecturer at Jhansi, made a keen appreciative statement, that when the book was ready, he would travel throughout India, book in hand, singing the songs of the great Saints embodying the Grace and the Glory of God. It may be seen that under the 'nom de plume' of Sakhā, he is primarily responsible for an impor- tant poem included in this volume. Secondly, the paraphrase portion of the book will enable non- Hindi readers to learn Hindi by the direct method, and be conversant with its high class spiritual literature expressed in a simple style, as vouchsafed
