Indian Antiquary Vol 59

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Charles E A W Oldham, S Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarka
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 102

208
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
| NOVEMBER 1928
SOME LITERARY NOTES ON THE AUTHORSHIP OF THE GOVINDALILAMRTA.
BY CHINTAHARAN CHAKRAVABTI, M.A. The Govindalilamrta is a fairly popular Sanekut Kavya among the Vaisnavas of Bengal. It deals, as its name implies, with the amours: 01-Radbâ and Kreņa. Its popularity is at. tested by the fact of its having been translated into Bengali verse as early as 1610 A.D. by. Yadunandana Dasa. Numerous manuscripts of iti found and noticed or described by various scholars in notices, reports and descriptive catalogues of Sanskrit MSS. in different parts of the world point to the same fact. But curiously enough there has been a good deal of confusion among scholars with regard to its authorship. -Thus one set of scholars attributes it to Raghunatha Dasal, while another is inclined to suppose Raghunatha Bhatta as its author.
All this confusion seems to have arison out of a verse which occurs, mutatis mutandis, at the end of every canto. At the end of the last canto it runs as follows:
mit Terra RAYTiergarten inte W i fe of the effort and S o strati Mala i Graff ita: agit975:,!! .
. This the twenty-third canto, full of nightly amoura, in the Govindalilámpla which is the fruit of waiting on Sri Bûpa, the bee, as it were of the feat-lotus of Sri Chaitanya.. which was directed by the scholarly Raghunatha Dash-which resulted from the companion. ship of Sri Jiva---which originated from the boon of Sri Raghunatha Bhatta, is complete."
Evidently the verse does not name the author of the work, but only refers to persons through whose inspiration and help the author undertook and finished his work,
But this should not lead one to suppose that the name of the author is not mentioned at all in the work. It is true we have got no colophon proper to this work, where we could expect the name of the author. A verse however in the last canto of the work (xxiii. 95) definitely refers to tho author. It runs : le cannot rustik a begaga : 11 prick
y powers of these men are te a fectate
scientific observation and experimente Wachine DELAWFOm bhide Bhortlindhaw a PPE the Yearratish otuskuilpolondoRaghunidade ve devoted themselves to meditation and have renounced all possibility of personal advantage trom the gift, but knop it stored up for the benefit of mankind
the leaves scarcelyany 26,9,185thpult kasb helyes horairesistbacor e Bugr this, imate the only place wheran irad Aswit referanser athanukb8484babeskindralishis Weiche Bengali translation of
then aynandante Spate in herinnths and at the end of
the commentary salánardavidhãyini on te, as contained in the published edition of the work, also attributes it to Krenadasa in thg introduc. tory verses sur les llen. Jesli of the Cute SystRent
e r. mancace of easi e rfectionnriqxs forms of government.
A
l ve care matter of fact the book is quite wel mongtube Yaign4rae of Bengal, as the
ofkan Kunadasa. The edition of it, in Bengalir Paarastina publishes from Berhampur Murshidabad) bears his name as the autho d a matter for gratification that of all er att
Raport on the Search of Sanskrit M6S, in the airpyler 188744891. No:1394; Ibid .48911898, No. 494,495, 496; Descriptive Catalogue of M the India ofice, vol. VII, No. 3878.c. " g or the Search of Sans Mss. in the Bomway prepare for 788787, No. 356.; Descriptive Data Fogue 46.8. in the Dibrary of the sitcointech okol. X. NO:39, Noetoed of sanktis. By Li Margal L.No.
22 , Descript pendingia uklystwo nhas.in the Barley Sets Library A Nyt w ild peacefully. This paucity of aula id tem LEA noro sliteral tranpletion of the vergeweld hear m einestarza..the Amours of Slovindatlie selected stories of his amoups) was collected to But this is tantamount to saying that the work was up poled by for add. Nr MTW 1F. Carpenter points at what y our sy är ITU hat na i htior are supposed to be the piante of the inaning