Lilavai

SR No.: 002796
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: A N Upadhye
Publisher: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
Publication Year: 1966
Total Pages: 500
Language: Sanskrit, Hindi, English
Classification: Book_Devnagari & Literature
File Size: 15 MB

Page 94

INTRODUCTION
In his Sarasvati kaṇṭhābharana,' Bhoja quotes a gatha to illustrate Maladipaka, and it is the same as No. 25 of the Lilavati.
9) ānandavardhana's literary activity is assigned to a period between 840870 AD. In his Dhvanyaloka III, while discussing Prakrtyau - citya, he observes thus :
भावीचित्यं तु प्रकृत्यौचित्यात् । प्रकृतिर्ह्यत्तममध्यमाधमभावेन दिव्यमानुषादिभावेन च विभेदिनी । तां यथायथमनुसृत्यासंकीर्णः स्थायीभाव उपनिबध्यमान औचित्यवान् भवति । अन्यथा तु केवल मानुषाश्रयेण दिव्यस्य केवलदिव्याश्रयेण वा मानुषस्योत्साहादय उपनिबध्यमाना अनुचिता भवन्ति । तथा च केवलमानुषस्य राजादेर्वर्णने सप्तार्णवलङ्घनादिलक्षणा व्यापारा उपनिबध्यमानाः सौष्ठवभृतोऽपि नीरसा एव नियमेन भान्ति । तत्र त्वनौचित्यमेव हेतुः । ननु नागलोकगमनादयः सातवाहनप्रभृतीनां श्रूयन्ते । तदलोकसामान्यप्रभावादतिशयवर्णने किमनौचित्यं सर्वोर्वीभरणक्षमाणां क्षमाभुजामिति नैतदस्ति । न वयं ब्रूमो यत्प्रभावातिशयवर्णनमनुचितं राज्ञाम्, किं तु केवलमानुषाश्रयेण यौत्पाद्यवस्तुकथा क्रियते तस्यां दिव्यमौचित्यं न योजनीयम् । दिव्यमानुषायां तु कथायामुभयमौचित्ययोजनमविरुद्धमेव । यथा पाण्ड्रादिकथायाम् । सातवाहनादिषु तु येषु यावदपदानं श्रूयते तेषु तावन्मात्रमनुमम्यमानमनुगुणत्वेन प्रतिभासते । व्यतिरिक्तं तु तेषामेवोपनिबध्यमानमनुचितम् ।
In the Lilavati we find that Katha is said to be of three kinds, divya, divya-mănuși and mănuşi and that Satavahana and others go to Nag aloka through the supernatural power of Nagarjuna. Anandavardhana, it is to be remembered, is acquainted with Prakrit works like the Gāthāsaptasati, Harivijaya of Sarvasena, Setukavya and Madhumathanavijaya ; and he himself is the author of a Prakrit poem, Visamabāṇalila.. The trend of his discussion in the above passage, naturally, makes it highly probable that he has in view the introductory discussion from and the plot of the Lilavati. The possibility of his knowing an earlier prototype (which we have not been able to trace so far) of the Lilavati, of course, cannot be ruled out.
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C. Jineśvarasuri, as noted above on p. 26, finished his NirvanaLilavati in c. 1035 A. D. After the Lilavati, as far as we know, it is the earliest work to contain the word Lilavati in the title. The adjective Nirvana possibly implies that the author wants to distinguish his work from the earlier Lilavati, one having a religious basis and the other a romantic outlook.
D. In this Lilavati, while describing the march of Satavāhana, the author casually mentions Ratthauda or Rastrakūta and Sulamki,
1 Ed. Kavyamala, Bombay 1934, p. 529; see the Notes on gāthā No. 25 at the end.
2 Ed. Kavyamāla 25, Bombay 1928, p. 145; Kane : Sahityadarpana, Bombay 1923, Intro, p. lxviii.
3 P. V. Kane : Sahity adarpana, Bombay 1923, Intro. pp. lxvii ff.