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THE AUTHOR AND THE COMMENTATOR VIDYANUSASANA
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uncertain manner as he himself is said to have treated all these in independent treatises. Fortunately we have been able to secure a firmer footing in this connection by a detailed comparison of the text of Bhairava Padmavati Kalpa with the present text of Vidyānusāsana. It is that Vidyanusasana contains within itself more than five sixths of Bhairava Padmavatīkalpa. To be exact outof 308 verses (including 5 verses of colophon) of Bhairava Padmavati Kalpa 258 have been traced by us spread over fourteen different chapters out of the twenty four chapters of Vidyānusāsana. All the verses in chapters II to VII of Bhairava Padmavati Kalpa are traced; the untraced verses in chapters I, II, VIII, IX and X are only 10, 5, 4, 6 and 25 respectively. The subject in ch. X of Bhairava Padmavatikalpa is Garuda (snake-charming and charms against snake-bites) which being a speciality of the author, as is apparent from his title 'Garudamantravādavedi,' he has added new matter comprised in new verses which for that reason could not be traced in Vidyānusāsana. This accounts for the 25 untraced verses in the said X chapter, 5 of which form the colopon containing the author's lineage. The first chapter is introductory and describes the qualifications of a Mantrika. Here the matter to be treated being not Mantric and the author being a poet, he composed fine new verses.
A considerable portion of Sarasvatīkalpa of the author has been also traced by us in Vidyanusāsana. Portions of Jwalini Kalpa and Kāmacāndāli Kalpa are also traced in Vidyānusāsana. The text of Balagrahacikitsa being not available to the writer has not been compared.
When we undertook the investigation, we never thought that such a large portion-practically the whole-of Bhairava Padmavatīkalpa would be traced in Vidyānusāsana. What is the inference to be drawn? This cannot be a mere coincidence. It can neither be interpolation nor plagiarism. It cannot be former because it cannot be taken off from Vidyānusāsana without interfering with the current of narration and without interfering with the method, arrangement and sequence of the text. The portion is spread over practically the whole of Vidyānusāsana
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