Bruhat Katha kosha

SR No.: 016060
Original Sutra Author: Harishen Acharya
Publisher: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
Publication Year: 1943
Total Pages: 566
Language: Prakrit, Sanskrit
Classification: Dictionary & Dictionary
File Size: 16 MB

Page 101

BRHAT-KATHAKOSA
Some of his remarks are baseless and imaginary1; one feels as if he is bent on assigning high antiquity to this work after forcing every argument for his purpose; and his facts and premisses do not logically lead to the conclusion arrived at by him. Chronology is not a matter of taste and forced opinion: we should dispassionately record the evidence and see what limits can he put to the age of this work. 4) Prof. S. Śrīkanth Sastri has not argued out his conclusion, but he remarks that the Vaḍḍāradhane of Sivakoti probably belongs to the 7th century A. D.
70
My own study of the text, especially of the printed portion, has revealed certain facts which I shall note down and try to put broad limits to the age of this important Kannada work. Scrutinising the internal evidence, we find here a good number of quotations in Prakrit (with Apabhramsa), Sanskrit and Kannada. It is quite likely that some of the Prakrit and Sanskrit quotations are inherited from the Prakrit original and some others, along with the Kannada verses, might have been added by the Kannada author. That explains, to a certain extent, why we get a group of verses expressing nearly the same ideas (pp. 8, 9, 96, 97 etc.). If we could trace the sources of these quotations, unanimously included in the text by all the known Mss., it would not be difficult to put an earlier limit to the age of this book. I have been able to trace a few quotations to thier sources which can be arranged thus according to tentative chrono. logy: The opening gathas of the nineteen stories, the three concluding gāthās from the Ms. L and a quotation (jaha jaha etc., in the story of Gurudatta, p. 120 of L) are all found, with slight dialectal variations, in the Bha. A. of Sivakoti. Of the three opening Prakrit verses in the Ms. L, possibly quoted as a Mangala by the Kannada author, the first is from the Pañcāstikaya (No. 1) and the second from the Pravacanas āra (No. 1) of Kundakunda. Then khammami etc. (p. 43) is found in the Mūlācāra (II. 7) and also in the Pratikramaņa (p. 9, Bhavanagar ed. Samvat 1954) from which (Ibid. p. 10) appears to be quoted, with a slight variation, another verse ha dutthu etc. (p. 99). The verse yadyapi etc. (p. 107) is quoted from the Prasamarati-prakarana (No. 107) of Umāsväti. The opening Sanskrit verse namaḥ śri etc. is the Mangala of Ratnakaraṇḍaka of Samantabhadra who is assigned to c. 2nd century A. D. Some quotations like yeṣāṁ na vidya etc. (p. 97), yāvat svastham idam etc. (p. *229) and trasnam chindhi (p. 121 of Ms. L.) are traced to the Satakas (Niti. 13, Vairagya. 88 and Nīti. 77)2 of Bhartṛhari whose date and the authenticity of a particular verse in the Śataka are uncertain. The Apabhramsa quotation chijjai etc. (p. 43, not
Some of the statements and premisses of Mr. Pai are incorrect and contradictory to the known facts. He says that thero is no practice of composing or quoting Prakrit gāthās in a Sanskrit work, that Sanskrit verses cannot be quoted in Prakrit works, that Prakrit is not praudhasahitya-these are all imaginary statements which do not desorve to be refuted even.
2 These numbers are from Telang's edition, Bombay 1874.
1