Research scholar Rev Justin Edward Abbot
Rev. Justin Edward Abbot, a Protestant missionary, is credited with authoring 11 books in English and Marathi on the lives and works of the medieval Hindu saints of Maharashtra. Abbot worked as a missionary in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra for nearly three decades. After his retirement, this missionary returned to his motherland, the United States of America, where he continued his passion for the study of literature of Maharashtrian Hindu saints.
Abbot, who had settled in New Jersey, wrote a series of 11 books entitled 'Poet Saints of Maharashtra'. He wrote biographies of the Maharashtrian saints in English, translated their poetry into English, and thus introduced the rich literary treasure to the western world. This was the first effort to introduce the great Maharashtrian saints like Dnyaneshwar, Eknath, Tukaram and Ramdas to the English readers. This is a major contribution by Rev Abbot.
Abbot was born at Portsmouth in Hampshire in the USA on December 25, 1853. His father was a priest at the American Marathi Mission in Ahmednagar. Justin, along with his missionary father, had arrived at Rahuri in Ahmednagar district when he was only four years old. Therefore, right from his childhood, Abbot was familiar with Marathi language. Abbot returned to his motherland after his father's retirement. But he opted to be a priest and returned to Ahmednagar as a missionary of the American Marathi Mission in 1881 and stayed there till 1910. Rev. Abbot's love for Marathi language and Maharashtrian culture prevailed throughout his life, even after he left India.
‘Dnyanoday’, launched in 1842, is the oldest surviving periodical in Marathi. Abbot worked for 25 years as the editor of the English section of this English - Marathi weekly published by the American Marathi Mission. During his stay in Maharashtra, he often used to visit the Pune-based research centre, Bharat Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal. There, he read the religious literature by Maharashtrian Hindu poet saints. Astonished by the rich quality of the literature left behind by these sants (saints), he soon fell in love with these poetry collections. The bond of love lasted until his death.
After his retirement, Rev. Abbot settled in America. Ten years later, i.e., in 1920, he returned to Maharashtra along with his wife to study the literature of the Marathi poet-saints. He also wanted to know more about the lives of these great spiritual persons. Therefore, he visited remote places associated with these holy men. The visits to mountainous and other remote places enhanced his admiration and respect for the poet saints. He traveled through the ravines and mountains where Samarth Ramdas, used to camp in the 17th century to experience the lifestyle of this great medieval saint. He visited Jalna and other places in Marathwada region which are associated with his Sant Eknath and his guru, Janardhan Swamy, to recollect incidences in the lives of these saints. He visited for over a month the Pune-based Bharat Itihas Sandhodhak Mandal (Indian Historical Research Association) where he studied Marathi sants; literature.
Unfortunately, Rev. Abbot had to end his Maharashtra tour abruptly and return to his native place alone. While traveling to various places, his wife fell ill and died at Miraj.
These visits helped Rev. Abbot immensely when he later wrote the series of books on Maharashtra’s poet-saints. Only a person with deep respect and admiration for the poet-saints would have taken the trouble to visit those otherwise inaccessible terrains in the 19th century.
The contents of the series of 11 books extend to 4,589 pages. After the demise of Rev Abbot, Rev. J. F. Edwards ran the series.
The 'Maharashtra Saints-Poets' series includes the following eleven books: -
*English translation of chapters 42 and 43 of Bhaktavijay authored by Bhanudas Mahipati.
* English translation of chapters 13 to 24 of Bhaktaleelamrut of Sant Eknath.
*English translation of 23 chapter of Bhikshugin or Anurtaptakarsya of Eknathi Bhagvat.
*English translation of 'Dasopant Digambar', Biography of Shri Dasopant
*English translation of Bahinabai's autobiography and Abhangas
*English translation of Abhangas by saints (Strotramala)
*English translation of chapters from 'Tukaram's Santavijay'
*English translation of Mahipati's Bhaktavijay part 1
*English translation of Mahipati's Bhaktavijay part 2
*Nectar of Indian saints, English translation of some of the chapters of Mahipati's Bhaktaleelamrul
Rev. Abbot's contribution in introducing the Marathi poet-saints to the western world is definitely praiseworthy. What is interesting is that he retained his passion for studying the spiritual literature of these Hindu saints while continuing to function as a Christian missionary. Rev. Abbot himself has explained how he was motivated for this work. He wrote in a preface to his book 'Bhanudas': -
"To make these stories of the Marathi saints available to a large scale, both in India and outside, an English translation is obviously a necessity. And, as I feel that these stories have a moral value, and that they can be used to impress vital truths, the translation of them into English language has been for me a labour, which I have felt worthwhile, and has been a labour of love."
Rev. Abbot had studied Indian philosophy very well. He had read philosophy of Vedanta in Sanskrit. Rev. Abbot wrote in the preface of his book 'Ramdas' that he had discussed about this philosophy with both, the learned people and farmers working in the fields as well as those living in jungles.
'Those who criticised the Marathi saints literature had to change their opinion after reading this literature. Rev Abbot was among those honest and kind-hearted,' S. M. Pinge, a research scholar, has said while admiring Rev. Abbot's work.
'Sankshipta Marathi Vangmaykosh' (Brief encyclopedia of Marathi Literature) too has appreciated Rev. Abbot's approach towards literature belonging to another religion. "Initially Rev Abbot was prejudiced against the Marathi poet saints' literature. However, after studying this literature, he changed his viewpoint and in his mother tongue, he respectfully wrote biographies of these saints, appreciating their literary values. This fact is indeed significant for the students of literature," the encyclopedia has commented.
Rev. Abbot retained his ties with Maharashtra and Marathi even after he returned to his native place. Once, while searching for some rare Marathi books in a London-based institute, The School of Oriental and African Studies, he accidentally found a rare Marathi manuscript. He discovered a manuscript copy of 'Kristapuran' in Marathi in Devanagari script, authored by a Jesuit, Fr. Thomas Stephens in Goa in the beginning of the 17th century. Kristapuran epic is based on the Old and New Testaments. Fr. Stephens had composed it in purely Indian style like the traditional puranas and with theological and philosophical concepts familiar to the Indian masses.
Until Abbot discovered the Devanagari manuscript of Kristapuran in 1920, copies of this acclaimed Marathi epic were available in
Roman script only. Fr. Stephens had wished that this volume in Marathi be published in Devanagari script. However in those days, printing technology for Devanagari script was not developed. Hence, 'Kristapuran' was published in Roman script in Goa which was then under the political control of the Portuguese. This rare and precious piece of Marathi literature in a foreign script had not reached Marathi readers in Maharashtra for couple of centuries after its publication.
Rev. Abbot compared this Devanagari manuscript with the copy of 'Kristapuran' in Roman script. He concluded that the Devanagari manuscript discovered at the institute must have been a copy of 'Kristapuran' written by Fr. Stephens himself.
Abbot gave this information about the discovery of the rare manuscript and his conclusion in a letter published in the English daily, The Times of India, in 1925. This letter is reproduced here:
Mr. Justin E Abbot's letter to The Times of India
Sir,
A discovery which it has been my good fortune to have very recently made will be of much interest to many in India, to students of Marathi literature, and especially to Mangalore and Southern Konkan Christians. In searching for such Marathi manuscripts as may have found their way to England and the continent, I took occasion to visit the School of Oriental Studies at Finsbury Circus, London. Sir Denis Ross, Director of the School, kindly put in my hands a catalogue of manuscripts that had belonged to the library of William Mersden, who a century ago, had made a large collection of coins and Oriental books when in India; many of the latter having been obtained from the Archives in Goa. This library was given by Mr. Mersden to the Kings College, London in 1853, but in 1916, came into the possession of the School of Oriental Studies. The catalogue of manuscripts belonging to this Mersden collection included only a few in the Marathi language, but as my eye fell on the titles of two, with entries made by Mr. Mersden as follows:
''The Adi of First Puran, a Christian work in the Mahratta language and Nagari character appearing to contain an exposition of the Old Testament'' ''The Deva Puran or Divine History, a Christian work in the Mahratta language and Nagari character appearing to contain an exposition of the New Testament or History of Christ'': I recognised at once that these must contain the original text in Devanagari character of ''The Christian Puran'' edited by J L Saldhana and published at Mangalore in 1907, but which is in Roman character. Comparing the two side by side, gave absolute proof of the relation of these two texts. I had thus before my eyes the original text in Devanagari character of Thomas Stevens' work at the end of the 16th century or beginning of the 17th, and in a form much more worthy of his scholarship and mastery of the Marathi language, than that represented by ''The Christian Purana'' in Roman character. The proofs are conclusive that the Mangalore edition represents not the original Devanagari text. The text of this Devanagari manuscript is in far purer Marathi. It has, so far as I could gather from a necessarily hasty examination, very little of the Konkani elements in words and idioms. Instead of using the Portuguese theological and ecclesiastical terms, it uses the dignified Sanskrit formation, Dyanasana for Bautisma, Tritva for Trindad, Devadravya for sacrament, Nava Granth for Novo Testament, Shri Guru for Padre Guru, etc. Chapter 22nd of the Mangalore text is an interpolation, the original editor of that particular text having felt the necessity of justifying to Hindu and Christian objectors Christ's miracle of turning water into wine. There are thus 59 chapters in the Mangalore text and 58 in the original Devanagari text. For theological and ecclesiastical reasons also the editor of the original Mangalore text has interpolated words and even verses. In transliterating, he has used the Konkani pronunciation of Sanskrit and Marathi words that in the Devanagari text are in their pure form. It would thus appear that the editor of the original Mangalore text desiring to make the reading of the Puran easier for those unfamiliar with the Devanagari character and more understandable in its theological and ecclesiastical terms, used his opportunity freely, transliterated the original Devanagari in Roman character, and, made such changes of the text in language and contents as he deemed useful for his purpose. The manuscript itself is in two volumes differing in handwriting. A guess would say both volumes are at least 200 years old. That the Deva Puran is a copy of an elder copy is evident from the fact that the copyist, while a careful and an expert writer, occasionally omitted a letter, a word, and in one instance, a whole verse, which however, he restored in the margin, the hand-writing of both text and correction being the same. The Devanagari text has the usual form of an Indian Puran, ending in ''iti Mahapurane'' or ''Iti Deva-Purane'', etc, which the Mangalore text does not do. In the 'Adi Puran' there are 4,035 verses, in the 'Deva-Puran', 6,686 making a total of 10,721 verses. It will now be possible to edit the original Devanagari text of this interesting work of Thomas Stevens, the first Englishman who is believed to have made his way to India, born about 1549, arrived in Goa 1579 and died in 1619.
Justin E Abbot Summit N. J. U.S.A. Lausanne, Switzerland, Aug 17, 1925.''
In 1956, Shantaram Bandelu, a teacher from Ahmednagar College, edited a Devanagari script of 'Kristapuran.' The dream of the epic writer, Fr. Stephens, to publish Kristapurana in Devanagari script was at last fulfilled, albeit three and half centuries after his death.
However Bandelu did not agree to the conclusion drawn by Abbot that the Devanagari script found in the Mersdon Collections was a original copy of the Devanagari manuscript written by Fr Stephens himself.
When Fr. Hans Staffner, a Jesuit priest, came to know about the article written by Abbot in The Times of India, he searched for the Devanagari manuscript of Kristapuran at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London and also obtained a microfilm of this rare manuscript. He obtained two prints from the microfilm. One of these two prints is kept at the Jaykar Library of University of Pune and the other one is at the library of the Snehasadan, a Jesuit institute in Pune. In 1996, Fr. Caridad Drago compiled a new Shreyas edition of 'Kristapuran' based on the editions found in the Mersden Collection and edited by Bandelu. So far, the scholars have not been able to establish the exact age of the Mersden edition of Kristapuran.
Rev. Abbot died on June 19, 1932. This great missionary had made will, directing distribution of his rich assets to various institutions in India and elsewhere. Veteran research scholar Mahamahopadhyay Datto Vaman Potdar who wrote any entry on Rev. Abbot in Bharatvarsheeya Arvacheen Charitrakosh –(Indian biographical encyclopedia (1818 to 1945), has said that it is indeed incredible that the Protestant missionary donating his assets to Indian institutions.
Abbot donated $3 lakh to various bodies, of these, $1.40 were donated to Indian organizations. Bharat Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal in Pune where he had studied Marathi sants’ literature was the non-Christian organisations which received the highest donation which was $30,000. The funds were given to the research organisations to construct its premises for collections of rare, historical Marathi books.
References: -
1) 'Europeanancha Marathicha Abhyas Va Seva' (Marathi) -- Author, publisher - S. M. Pinge, 24 B, Cantonment, Aurangabad, Maharashtra, Distributors - Venus Prakashan, Pune. (1959)
2) Bharatvarsheeya Arvacheen Charitrakosh – Marathi (Indian biographical encyclopedia (1818 to 1945), edited by Siddheshwarshatri Chitrao, Publishers: Bharatvarsheeya Charitrakosh Mandal, Shaniwar Peth, Pune-2 (1946)
3) 'Dnyanodayachya Panantun Maharashtrachya Prabodhanacha Magova –(1842 - 1992)' (Marathi) Editors - Sudhir Sharma and Vijaya Punekar, Publisher - Dnyanoday Trust, Juhi, Pathardi Road, Bhingar, Ahmednagar 414 002 (1997)
4) 'Sanskhipta Marathi Vangmay Kosh (Arambhapasun 1920 Paryantacha Kalakhand) (Marathi) Editors - Jaya Dadkar, Prabha Ganorkar, Vasant Abaji Dahake and Sadanand Bhatkal, Publishers - Harsha Bhatkal, G. R. Bhatkal Foundation, 35 C/ Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya Marg, Mumbai 400 034 (1998)
5) 'Kristapuran' – Fr. Thomas Stephens, Shreyas edition, Editor Fr Caridad Drago, Popular Prakashan Pvt. Ltd. 35 C/ Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya Marg, Tardeo, Mumbai - 400034, (1996)
Rev. Justin Edward Abbot, a Protestant missionary, is credited with authoring 11 books in English and Marathi on the lives and works of the medieval Hindu saints of Maharashtra. Abbot worked as a missionary in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra for nearly three decades. After his retirement, this missionary returned to his motherland, the United States of America, where he continued his passion for the study of literature of Maharashtrian Hindu saints.Abbot, who had settled in New Jersey, wrote a series of 11 books entitled 'Poet Saints of Maharashtra'. He wrote biographies of the Maharashtrian saints in English, translated their poetry into English, and thus introduced the rich literary treasure to the western world. This was the first effort to introduce the great Maharashtrian saints like Dnyaneshwar, Eknath, Tukaram and Ramdas to the English readers. This is a major contribution by Rev Abbot.
Abbot was born at Portsmouth in Hampshire in the USA on December 25, 1853. His father was a priest at the American Marathi Mission in Ahmednagar. Justin, along with his missionary father, had arrived at Rahuri in Ahmednagar district when he was only four years old. Therefore, right from his childhood, Abbot was familiar with Marathi language. Abbot returned to his motherland after his father's retirement. But he opted to be a priest and returned to Ahmednagar as a missionary of the American Marathi Mission in 1881 and stayed there till 1910. Rev. Abbot's love for Marathi language and Maharashtrian culture prevailed throughout his life, even after he left India.
‘Dnyanoday’, launched in 1842, is the oldest surviving periodical in Marathi. Abbot worked for 25 years as the editor of the English section of this English - Marathi weekly published by the American Marathi Mission. During his stay in Maharashtra, he often used to visit the Pune-based research centre, Bharat Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal. There, he read the religious literature by Maharashtrian Hindu poet saints. Astonished by the rich quality of the literature left behind by these sants (saints), he soon fell in love with these poetry collections. The bond of love lasted until his death.
After his retirement, Rev. Abbot settled in America. Ten years later, i.e., in 1920, he returned to Maharashtra along with his wife to study the literature of the Marathi poet-saints. He also wanted to know more about the lives of these great spiritual persons. Therefore, he visited remote places associated with these holy men. The visits to mountainous and other remote places enhanced his admiration and respect for the poet saints. He traveled through the ravines and mountains where Samarth Ramdas, used to camp in the 17th century to experience the lifestyle of this great medieval saint. He visited Jalna and other places in Marathwada region which are associated with his Sant Eknath and his guru, Janardhan Swamy, to recollect incidences in the lives of these saints. He visited for over a month the Pune-based Bharat Itihas Sandhodhak Mandal (Indian Historical Research Association) where he studied Marathi sants; literature.
Unfortunately, Rev. Abbot had to end his Maharashtra tour abruptly and return to his native place alone. While traveling to various places, his wife fell ill and died at Miraj.
These visits helped Rev. Abbot immensely when he later wrote the series of books on Maharashtra’s poet-saints. Only a person with deep respect and admiration for the poet-saints would have taken the trouble to visit those otherwise inaccessible terrains in the 19th century.
The contents of the series of 11 books extend to 4,589 pages. After the demise of Rev Abbot, Rev. J. F. Edwards ran the series.
The 'Maharashtra Saints-Poets' series includes the following eleven books: -
*English translation of chapters 42 and 43 of Bhaktavijay authored by Bhanudas Mahipati.
* English translation of chapters 13 to 24 of Bhaktaleelamrut of Sant Eknath.
*English translation of 23 chapter of Bhikshugin or Anurtaptakarsya of Eknathi Bhagvat.
*English translation of 'Dasopant Digambar', Biography of Shri Dasopant
*English translation of Bahinabai's autobiography and Abhangas
*English translation of Abhangas by saints (Strotramala)
*English translation of chapters from 'Tukaram's Santavijay'
*English translation of Mahipati's Bhaktavijay part 1
*English translation of Mahipati's Bhaktavijay part 2
*Nectar of Indian saints, English translation of some of the chapters of Mahipati's Bhaktaleelamrul
Rev. Abbot's contribution in introducing the Marathi poet-saints to the western world is definitely praiseworthy. What is interesting is that he retained his passion for studying the spiritual literature of these Hindu saints while continuing to function as a Christian missionary. Rev. Abbot himself has explained how he was motivated for this work. He wrote in a preface to his book 'Bhanudas': -
"To make these stories of the Marathi saints available to a large scale, both in India and outside, an English translation is obviously a necessity. And, as I feel that these stories have a moral value, and that they can be used to impress vital truths, the translation of them into English language has been for me a labour, which I have felt worthwhile, and has been a labour of love."
Rev. Abbot had studied Indian philosophy very well. He had read philosophy of Vedanta in Sanskrit. Rev. Abbot wrote in the preface of his book 'Ramdas' that he had discussed about this philosophy with both, the learned people and farmers working in the fields as well as those living in jungles.
'Those who criticised the Marathi saints literature had to change their opinion after reading this literature. Rev Abbot was among those honest and kind-hearted,' S. M. Pinge, a research scholar, has said while admiring Rev. Abbot's work.
'Sankshipta Marathi Vangmaykosh' (Brief encyclopedia of Marathi Literature) too has appreciated Rev. Abbot's approach towards literature belonging to another religion. "Initially Rev Abbot was prejudiced against the Marathi poet saints' literature. However, after studying this literature, he changed his viewpoint and in his mother tongue, he respectfully wrote biographies of these saints, appreciating their literary values. This fact is indeed significant for the students of literature," the encyclopedia has commented.
Rev. Abbot retained his ties with Maharashtra and Marathi even after he returned to his native place. Once, while searching for some rare Marathi books in a London-based institute, The School of Oriental and African Studies, he accidentally found a rare Marathi manuscript. He discovered a manuscript copy of 'Kristapuran' in Marathi in Devanagari script, authored by a Jesuit, Fr. Thomas Stephens in Goa in the beginning of the 17th century. Kristapuran epic is based on the Old and New Testaments. Fr. Stephens had composed it in purely Indian style like the traditional puranas and with theological and philosophical concepts familiar to the Indian masses.
Until Abbot discovered the Devanagari manuscript of Kristapuran in 1920, copies of this acclaimed Marathi epic were available in
Roman script only. Fr. Stephens had wished that this volume in Marathi be published in Devanagari script. However in those days, printing technology for Devanagari script was not developed. Hence, 'Kristapuran' was published in Roman script in Goa which was then under the political control of the Portuguese. This rare and precious piece of Marathi literature in a foreign script had not reached Marathi readers in Maharashtra for couple of centuries after its publication.
Rev. Abbot compared this Devanagari manuscript with the copy of 'Kristapuran' in Roman script. He concluded that the Devanagari manuscript discovered at the institute must have been a copy of 'Kristapuran' written by Fr. Stephens himself.
Abbot gave this information about the discovery of the rare manuscript and his conclusion in a letter published in the English daily, The Times of India, in 1925. This letter is reproduced here:
Mr. Justin E Abbot's letter to The Times of India
Sir,
A discovery which it has been my good fortune to have very recently made will be of much interest to many in India, to students of Marathi literature, and especially to Mangalore and Southern Konkan Christians. In searching for such Marathi manuscripts as may have found their way to England and the continent, I took occasion to visit the School of Oriental Studies at Finsbury Circus, London. Sir Denis Ross, Director of the School, kindly put in my hands a catalogue of manuscripts that had belonged to the library of William Mersden, who a century ago, had made a large collection of coins and Oriental books when in India; many of the latter having been obtained from the Archives in Goa. This library was given by Mr. Mersden to the Kings College, London in 1853, but in 1916, came into the possession of the School of Oriental Studies. The catalogue of manuscripts belonging to this Mersden collection included only a few in the Marathi language, but as my eye fell on the titles of two, with entries made by Mr. Mersden as follows:
''The Adi of First Puran, a Christian work in the Mahratta language and Nagari character appearing to contain an exposition of the Old Testament'' ''The Deva Puran or Divine History, a Christian work in the Mahratta language and Nagari character appearing to contain an exposition of the New Testament or History of Christ'': I recognised at once that these must contain the original text in Devanagari character of ''The Christian Puran'' edited by J L Saldhana and published at Mangalore in 1907, but which is in Roman character. Comparing the two side by side, gave absolute proof of the relation of these two texts. I had thus before my eyes the original text in Devanagari character of Thomas Stevens' work at the end of the 16th century or beginning of the 17th, and in a form much more worthy of his scholarship and mastery of the Marathi language, than that represented by ''The Christian Purana'' in Roman character. The proofs are conclusive that the Mangalore edition represents not the original Devanagari text. The text of this Devanagari manuscript is in far purer Marathi. It has, so far as I could gather from a necessarily hasty examination, very little of the Konkani elements in words and idioms. Instead of using the Portuguese theological and ecclesiastical terms, it uses the dignified Sanskrit formation, Dyanasana for Bautisma, Tritva for Trindad, Devadravya for sacrament, Nava Granth for Novo Testament, Shri Guru for Padre Guru, etc. Chapter 22nd of the Mangalore text is an interpolation, the original editor of that particular text having felt the necessity of justifying to Hindu and Christian objectors Christ's miracle of turning water into wine. There are thus 59 chapters in the Mangalore text and 58 in the original Devanagari text. For theological and ecclesiastical reasons also the editor of the original Mangalore text has interpolated words and even verses. In transliterating, he has used the Konkani pronunciation of Sanskrit and Marathi words that in the Devanagari text are in their pure form. It would thus appear that the editor of the original Mangalore text desiring to make the reading of the Puran easier for those unfamiliar with the Devanagari character and more understandable in its theological and ecclesiastical terms, used his opportunity freely, transliterated the original Devanagari in Roman character, and, made such changes of the text in language and contents as he deemed useful for his purpose. The manuscript itself is in two volumes differing in handwriting. A guess would say both volumes are at least 200 years old. That the Deva Puran is a copy of an elder copy is evident from the fact that the copyist, while a careful and an expert writer, occasionally omitted a letter, a word, and in one instance, a whole verse, which however, he restored in the margin, the hand-writing of both text and correction being the same. The Devanagari text has the usual form of an Indian Puran, ending in ''iti Mahapurane'' or ''Iti Deva-Purane'', etc, which the Mangalore text does not do. In the 'Adi Puran' there are 4,035 verses, in the 'Deva-Puran', 6,686 making a total of 10,721 verses. It will now be possible to edit the original Devanagari text of this interesting work of Thomas Stevens, the first Englishman who is believed to have made his way to India, born about 1549, arrived in Goa 1579 and died in 1619.
Justin E Abbot Summit N. J. U.S.A. Lausanne, Switzerland, Aug 17, 1925.''
In 1956, Shantaram Bandelu, a teacher from Ahmednagar College, edited a Devanagari script of 'Kristapuran.' The dream of the epic writer, Fr. Stephens, to publish Kristapurana in Devanagari script was at last fulfilled, albeit three and half centuries after his death.
However Bandelu did not agree to the conclusion drawn by Abbot that the Devanagari script found in the Mersdon Collections was a original copy of the Devanagari manuscript written by Fr Stephens himself.
When Fr. Hans Staffner, a Jesuit priest, came to know about the article written by Abbot in The Times of India, he searched for the Devanagari manuscript of Kristapuran at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London and also obtained a microfilm of this rare manuscript. He obtained two prints from the microfilm. One of these two prints is kept at the Jaykar Library of University of Pune and the other one is at the library of the Snehasadan, a Jesuit institute in Pune. In 1996, Fr. Caridad Drago compiled a new Shreyas edition of 'Kristapuran' based on the editions found in the Mersden Collection and edited by Bandelu. So far, the scholars have not been able to establish the exact age of the Mersden edition of Kristapuran.
Rev. Abbot died on June 19, 1932. This great missionary had made will, directing distribution of his rich assets to various institutions in India and elsewhere. Veteran research scholar Mahamahopadhyay Datto Vaman Potdar who wrote any entry on Rev. Abbot in Bharatvarsheeya Arvacheen Charitrakosh –(Indian biographical encyclopedia (1818 to 1945), has said that it is indeed incredible that the Protestant missionary donating his assets to Indian institutions.
Abbot donated $3 lakh to various bodies, of these, $1.40 were donated to Indian organizations. Bharat Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal in Pune where he had studied Marathi sants’ literature was the non-Christian organisations which received the highest donation which was $30,000. The funds were given to the research organisations to construct its premises for collections of rare, historical Marathi books.
References: -
1) 'Europeanancha Marathicha Abhyas Va Seva' (Marathi) -- Author, publisher - S. M. Pinge, 24 B, Cantonment, Aurangabad, Maharashtra, Distributors - Venus Prakashan, Pune. (1959)
2) Bharatvarsheeya Arvacheen Charitrakosh – Marathi (Indian biographical encyclopedia (1818 to 1945), edited by Siddheshwarshatri Chitrao, Publishers: Bharatvarsheeya Charitrakosh Mandal, Shaniwar Peth, Pune-2 (1946)
3) 'Dnyanodayachya Panantun Maharashtrachya Prabodhanacha Magova –(1842 - 1992)' (Marathi) Editors - Sudhir Sharma and Vijaya Punekar, Publisher - Dnyanoday Trust, Juhi, Pathardi Road, Bhingar, Ahmednagar 414 002 (1997)
4) 'Sanskhipta Marathi Vangmay Kosh (Arambhapasun 1920 Paryantacha Kalakhand) (Marathi) Editors - Jaya Dadkar, Prabha Ganorkar, Vasant Abaji Dahake and Sadanand Bhatkal, Publishers - Harsha Bhatkal, G. R. Bhatkal Foundation, 35 C/ Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya Marg, Mumbai 400 034 (1998)
5) 'Kristapuran' – Fr. Thomas Stephens, Shreyas edition, Editor Fr Caridad Drago, Popular Prakashan Pvt. Ltd. 35 C/ Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya Marg, Tardeo, Mumbai - 400034, (1996)
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