________________
8
work of compiling and publishing all the lists of all the works in all the Jaina Bhandars is yet to be finished.
IV The Title
18
The author is not very particular about the exact title of his work. He himself has referred to it variously as 'Katha-samgraha," 'Kathasara', and 'Tilaka-mañjari-sara'. 19 And his purpose behind this endeavour is specifically mentioned as that of sucking, like a bee, the essence of the original prose-romance of Kavi Dhanapala, so that the story of it is preserved intact in the epitome.20 Prof. H. D. Velankar has noted this work under the title "Tilakamañjari-saroddhara", which, however, is nowhere to be found in this work. It has been preserved under the title "Tilakamañjarī katha-sara' in the Kantivijayji Bhaṇḍāra*1 at the Atmananda Jaina Jñana Mandir, Baroda. It is but proper that this work must be named in accordance with the colophon22 at the end of the last, i.e. the ninth, 'Visrama' of the work. Hence the title "Tilakamañjarl-sara" in the present edition.
V The Frame-Work
The original prose-romance of Kavi Dhanapala is composed in a highly ornate prose style of a Sanskit "gadya-kavya." As would befit a poet, sympathetic to his reader, he has interspersed his prose narrative with appropriate short metrical interludes, which serve to afford a sort of a change and consequent relief and lend an additional beauty to the literary product.
Pallipala Dhanapala, however, has chosen for his compendium the medium of the Anustubh metre, which is easily pliable for the purpose. Treading in the foot-steps of Kavi Dhanapala, the author of the TMS also has resorted to a suitable device of providing to his readers some relief from the monotony of the incessant flow of the Anustubh verses. This he has achieved by dividing his work into nine suitable cantos, aptly called "Viśramas" since they really provide some breathing time-an interval-along the march of the poetic recital of the story. But he has not given any title at beginning of the cantos, probably because a resting place 'Viśrama'-can come only at the end of a jaunt-here a canto! I have, 17. TMS, 1.6 etc.
:
18. ibid. Epilogue Vs. 6 : कथासार : समर्थितः ।
19. TMS. Colophon : इति [ श्री - ]तिलकमञ्जरीसारे राज्यद्वय लाभो नाम नवमी विश्रामः |
20. TMS: 1. 5 : तस्या रहस्यमादाय मधुव्रत इवादशत् ।
मन्दवागपि संक्षेपादुगिरामि किमप्यहम् ॥५॥
21. No. 2037.
22. cf. supra. ft. nt, no, 19,
Jain Education International 2010_05
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org