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INTRODUCTION
Like the Kādambari of Bāņabbatta and the Vasavadattā of Sabandhu, the Avantisundari of Dandin is also a valuable prose romance in Sanskrit. The colophon at the end of the manuscript 'इत्याचार्यदण्डिना कृता अवन्तिसुन्दरी समाप्ता' makes it clear that the name of the work is Avantisundarı and that its author is Dandin. The statement in the work unga JEFT17891471-ag-clinimahCitatanga' (p. 17) fur. ther establishes the name of the work to be Avantisandar 1. The reference to the Avantisundari of Dandin by Appayya Diksita (different from the famous Vedāntin) in his Namasangrahamala 'इत्यवन्तिसुन्दरीये दण्डिप्रयोगात् '* confirms the name of the work and the name of the author.
Except for certain incidental elaborations like the genealogy of the lunar race of kings, the descriptions of the islands, world etc., and the stories cf Vararuci, Kādambari and Samudradatta, the story is, in the main, the same as that of the pūrvapithikā of Dasakumāracarita. Thcugh from the colophon erariarosal कृता अवन्तिसुन्दरी समाप्ता' cited above it would appear that the work is complete, an examination of the manuscript would show that the works as it is availabie here is incomplete. The story ends here with the narration of the tale of Kadambari by Mandakini: the daughter of Namuci when
* Vide Dr. V. Raghavan, Annals of Oriental Research, Madras, Vol. V, No. 2.
