________________
1. SOME PRAKRIT VERSES OF PADALIPTA
AND
THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE TARAMGALOLĀ
1. Gāthā 75 of the first Sataka of Hala's Saptasaaka1 (also called Gāthāsaptasati) is as follows:
ua pommarāa-maragaa-saṁvalia nahaalau oarai | naha-siri-kantha-bbhaṭṭha-vva kaṇṭhia kira-rimcholi ||
According to Weber, the name of the author of this Gāthā is missing in Pitambara's commentary, while Bhuvanapala's commentary gives it as Vasudeva. But in the Svayambhucchandas of Svayambhudeva, the above given Gatha is ascribed to Palitta2 (Sk. Padalipta). Svayambhu's ascription of authorship to the verses cited by him has been found reliable, and the text of the Purvabhaga of the Svayambhucchandas in which the Gathā occurs is based on an old palm-leaf MS. from Tibet. So we can safely accept Padalipta as the author of the Gāthā.
2. There is moreover one definitive piece of evidence which places Svayambhu's above-mentioned ascription beyond doubt. Svayambhu has cited two more Gāthās under the name of Palitta at Svayambhucchandas, Pūrvabhaga, 5. 3 and 5. 4. The latter of these is as follows:
•
āāsa-talãe nimalammi paphulla-camda-kamalammi / mia-mahuara-caraṇa-vihaḍiassa va jonha-rao phurai || Translation In the limpid sky-lake, the moon-light-pollen sparkles on the full-blown moon-lotus, ruffled by the feet of the Deer-bee'.
This Gatha colud be identified from the Samkhitta-taramgavaikahā (also known as (Taramgalola), the abridgement of Padalipta's lost romance Taramgavai. The abridgement3 was prepared by one Jasa (?), a disciple of Nemicandragani of the Haiyapuriya
9
