________________ TARAYANA (Taragana) : . An Anthology of Bappabhatti* The Jain tradition claims Bappabhatti to have been an eminent Prakrit Poet. His Subhasitakosa, Tarayana (Taragana) was known to be his very important poetic work from references made to it by Dhanapala, Vadijanghala and Prabhacandra. The credit of bringing it to light with a masterly, although anonymous commentary goes to Prakrit Text Society. Dr. H. C. Bhayani, a veteran Indologist has ably edited it on the basis of its only available MS. He has added, below each gatha and its commentary, lucid English translation and prefaced the edition with a valuable Introduction. In his 17 page Introduction Dr. Bhayani gives a description of the Manuscript and briefly deals with the life and literary activity of the poet Bappabhatti Suri. Regarding the anthology he notes the literary references and gives information about its compiler (Sankuka), its general structure, its listing device, its subjectmatter and finally dwells upon its style and literary merit. Dr. Bhayani does not agree, and rightly so, with the scholars who disregard and denounce the traditional Jain accounts as unreliable. Making allowance for exaggerations, errors, their legendary and motivated nature he shows how the traditional account of Bappabhatti preserves some facts and how the discovery of Tarayana bears out the Jain account on such points as Bappabhatti's poetic powers and his close association with king Amma alias Nagavaloka as an eminent poet at the latter's court. * Tarayana (Taragana) : An Anthology of Bappabhatti's Prakrit Gathas, Compiled by Sankuka, with an anonymous Sanskrit commentary, edited by H. C. Bhayani, published by Dalsukh Malvania, Secretary, Prakrit Text Society, Ahmedabad, 1987, pp. 8+79. Price. Rs. 20/ Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org