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other hand the treatment of most of the subjects is more brief than in the "Natya Sastra."
About half of the introductory verses of this chapter (up to verse 42) are common with the introductory chapter of Nandikes'vara's "Abhinaya Darpana." The 'Abhinaya Darpana" itself mentions that these verses are the teachings of older authorities.
एतानि पूर्वशास्त्रानुसारेणोक्तानि वै मया । (Abh. Darp. 47.)
Since there seems no reason to doubt the antiquity of the "Abhinaya Darpana", it appears that Sarngadeva borrowed them from this authoritative work unless he had access to the sources of Nandikes'vara himself. The whole chapter also draws most of its material from the Natya Sastra and its commentaries. A number of passages are quoted almost verbatim, such as verses 78 to 89 on the basic positions of the hands corresponding to Natya Sastra 9, 4-17. Even where Sarngadeva appears to have reshaped the definitions, he did not introduce any new element and the substance of the whole chapter is strictly traditional.
The verses of the Sangita Ratnakara were in turn reproduced in most of the later works. I have noted important borrowings in the "Sangita Saroddhara," the "Rasa Kaumudi," the "Abhinava Bharata Sāra Sangraha," etc.
The editing of the text of this volume, like that of the previous ones, is the remarkable work of a renowned scholar, Pandita Subrahmanya S'astri, who had just completed it before his death. Mr. Ramachandra Sarma,
Scanned by Gitarth Ganga Research Institute
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