Critical Introduction to Panhavagara

Author(s): Amulyachandra Sen
Publisher: Amulyachandra Sen

Page 15

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tert) The present character of the text however is didactic and not at all legendary like the other dasão-texts The only elements of legend it may at all be said to contain is in chap 4 where short references are made to the exploits of Baladevas and Vasudevas, who are described as being given to lustfulness and that many ancient wars, such as those for Sitā, Draupadi etc also having taken place due to the same reason But these are merely brief references and not legends in the proper sense of the term
The language of the text is prose Of regular metrical composition there are altogether nine couplets in it, three at the beginning of chap 1 (see below, p 25), three at the beginning of chap 6, and three in the middle of chap 9 With the exception of the last, they are gāthas The three which introduce chap 6 run thus) -
etto samvara-dārāi(m) pañca vocchāmi ānupuvvie jaha bhaņıyāni bhagavayā savva-duha-vimokkhan'atthāe padhamam hoi ahımsā, bitiyam sacca-vayanam ti pannattam datta-m-anunnāya-samvaro ya bambhaceram apariggahattam ca tattha padhamam ahımsā tasa-thāvara-savya-bhūya-khemakari tise sabhāvanāo kimci voccham gun'uddesam
The three in the middle of chap 9 run thus - pañca-maha-vvaya-suvvaya-mūlam samana-manāıla-sāhu-sucinnam vera-virāmana-pajjavasānam savva-samudda-mahôdadhı-tittham
the two srutaskandhas is not rūdha, for traditionally it consists of only one srutaskandha
1) This formal dasão-like introduction is no doubt spurious It hardly fits in with the general trend of the text In the other dasão texts Suhamma, in answer to Jambu's question, goes on to narrate legendary and not, all at once, didactic and dogmatic matter
2) The metre is irregular at datta-m-anunnāya in the fourth line Abh says (p 102a) that by dropping the word samvara the metre would be regular but that all Mss have it That measure, however, will not yield a normal verse esther Besides, the line, being constructed like the preceding one, yields not a gāthā but a gits The curious expression dattasm-anunnāya (dattanu" dattam ca anujñātam ca Abh) was taken from the special discussion on p 123a