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180
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
(August, 1924
and the zest with which he describes the mere physical side of love, which shows him up to us and seems to prove that he has not passed the stage of a rofined voluptuary." Subandhu has used expressions which must adversely affect the reputation of any writer for taste and refinement. It should be remembered that it was this work of Subandhu that brought down the ire of the editor, F.E. Hall, which has expressed itself in the following strong attack against Sanskrit culture itself :-"In short, it is nothing beyond the voucher of the severest verity to rank him (Subandhu) with his fellow Asiatics, be it in their highest taste, es no better, at the very best, than a specious savage." Dr. Peterson has amply replied to this attack in his works, and there is no need for us to reply to the attack so late in the day. It is only mentioned here to show that the reference of Bana could never have been to the existing V Asavadatta.
Of the several attempts to extract history from the verse quoted in Vamana's Alarkarasútra, one makes an effort, from the introductory verses of the Vasavadatta, to prove the occurrence of a political revolution in the Gupta Empire, after the death of Chandragupta II, Vikramaditya. In the light of the previous discussion and the new passages that have been quoted therein, it is plain that there is no reference in the verses to any events of the Gupta period. On the strength of the supposed references in the verses and the similarity between the expressions Chandraprakasa, Himakarodyta, and Saśiruk in the beginning of Vasavadatta, the whole theory of Subandhu's taking part in the revolution and his being detrimentally affected by it was built up. This theory has now. to be given up and the verses taken to contain no reference to the enemies of Chandraprakasa, who were tyran. nising the whole country and particularly Subandhu's party. They are merely verses oontaining the kukavininda (censure of bad poets). Now if the hemistitch of Vamana has no referenoo to the Buddhist scholar Vasubandhu, his date ought to be determined on other grounds. The discrepancy between the two accounts of Paramartha and Hiuen Tsang about the place where Vikramaditya, the patron of Vasubandhu ruled, Ajodhya or Srå vasti, might not be serious, as both the places belonged to the empire. But the question as to the Vikramaditya who patronised Vasubandhu, and his son Baláditya, who summoned Vasubandhu to his court after he became emperor, are not so easily solved. If M. Peri is right in holding that Vasubandhu lived and died in the fourth oentury, the conclusion seems plausible that Chandragupta I may have had the title of Vikramaditya, which is not im. possible, since the theory that Chandragupta II was the first sovereign to assume that title is at least not proved. But we do not know if Sam dragupta had the titlo Balâditya or Paraditya, and until we get independent proof that he had either of the titles, the question regarding the date of Vasubandhu and the identity of his patron are bound to remain unsettled.
The age of Subandhu must have been an age of very great literary and artistic activity, There must have been written at this period many works in the kávyo and nataka styles As well as in the sutra style. But for the existence of many dramas, & work like the nafasútras referred to by Patanjali, dealing with dramaturgy could not have been written The dramas of the period must have differed much from those of the later ages, as is evidenced by the Natyadhard and Natydyita ot Subandhu. The age in which Subandhu lived was the age in which the ancient Greeks were just coming in contact with India. The Indian drama of the time seems to have already been in a much developed stage, for which there is no parallel even in the literary history of India at any later period. In the light of this, theories of India's borrowing her drama from Greece may have to be given up, and search has to be conducted in India itself for specimens of dramas, composed earlier than the age of Alexander's invasion. The hope of new and epoch-making discoveries in this field appears to be capable of realisation, and the discoveries will surely open to scholars a new epoch in the history of Sanskrit literature,
