________________
Some Obscure Expressions in the Mechakatika
L
Both Mr Kale and Mr Karmarkar render algas ged. The former translates the expression as beyond the power of all people' By way of elucidation he adds, पूतेन मे तत् दशान्तरं (referring to his resolve of becoming Buddhist mandicant) Ha विहस्त ( विगत. हस्त. यस्मिन्) in which no man can lay his hands on me, no man will get me into his clutches, for gambling has led me to renounce the world' Mr Karmarkar translates the expression as 'helpless [or Inc pacitated ] In the whole world [or among all people}' By way of checkdation he adds 'Samvahaka finds himself in high spirits at his resolve of becoming an ascetic He contrasts his former state of a gambler with the new state of an ascetic The first line refers to the gamblers state. As a
gambler he was always perplexed ( विगत हस्त यस्य स विहस्त, हि sage) and afraid of people, he had to more about furtively in lanes and by lanes, in order that people may not see him or catch him unawALNA, now as an ascetic holding his head high up, he could roam about boldly on king's highways' He rejects unceremoniously all other interpretations which donot maintain that two different states are described-one is ench Mas This explanation is convincing no doubt, but the problem here, as in the previous one too, is about the transition from fig to her, ordinctly one gets farge<fag. So there is room for adding one to the trendy existing numerous explanationss of the word which have been sagaciondly considered by both Mr Kale and Mr Karmarkar. It is possible to connect the word with Of the latter the Pali form is fretten obtained through assimilation of and A further developed form is R in which the conjunct is simplified as sequently lengthened Now, in Magadha this change of one arrives at Eigene
11
and the previous vowel is comsometimes changes to g. With This change is more
8 (a) Mr Paranjape connects it with and renders get ridiculous (b) De Ryder prefers the reading दोहछे (बी)।
(c) Mr Lalla Diksita explains the word as meaning fearless (fire penger Besten frangenge af firford)
(d) According to Prithvidhara the explanation u 'gambling has reduced me to a state in which one is to fear all. ( यूतेन ताकत मम सर्वम्यते यत । ) To that Mr Kale adds "but we do not know what Prithvidhara's reading was
(e) Sat Jivanand Vidyasagar: विहस्तं व्याकुल व्यामकरण मिर्च । अवमाननमिति यावत् ।