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FOREWORD
Vākpati, or Vakpati-rajā, was attached to the court of Yasovarman of Kanauj and enjoyed his patronage. He has paid high compliments to his patron's "great prowess, handsomeness and impetuosity". He was well read in earlier classics of Bhāsa, Kalidasa and Subandhu, and was close to Bhavabhuti. He was honoured by the title of Kaviraja, possibly by his patron. His literary activities are to be assigned to the first half of the 8th century A. D. He has bestowed high praise on the Prakrit language in which he wrote two poems. His Mahumahavijaya was composed earlier than the Gaüdavaho; and, in his opinion, it was far superior to the latter, but its Mss. have not come down to us. His Gaüdavaho reminds us of the Ravaṇavaho of Pravarasena, but it has a form of its own: a continuous whole with Gathas grouped into Kulakas, but having no divisions of cantos etc. This form is later adopted by Kutühala in his Lilavati.
It was in the seventies of the last century that G. Bühler came across a Ms. of the Gaüdavaho in the Jaina Bhandara at Jaisalmer, which, along with Pattan, is well known for ancient Mss. It is at his instance that S. P. Pandit edited it, after securing three more Mss. (all of them from Western India and Jaina Collections), along with the Sanskrit commentary of Haripala, in the Bombay Sanskrit and Prakrit Series, 34, Bombay, 1887. Pandit equipped his edition with an unusually lengthy Introduction., various readings and Index Verborum. In his Introduction, besides giving an abstract of the poem, he elaborately discussed the framework of the Poem, date of Yasovarman, slaying of the Gauda king and cultural gleanings from the poem. His additional Notes I-V give a good bit of data on historical and chronological problems connected with the author and his age. His observations on Prakrit Studies and genuineness of the language exhibit his keen interest in the Prakrit languages. A reprint of Pandit's
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