________________
131
Prakrit Verses of Padalipta
3.142 we find gajjamte khe mehä cited among the illustrations. The complete Gāthā of which these words form the beginning is given in MS. B used by Vaidya for his edition of the Prakrit portion of the Siddhahema.5 It is as follows:
gajjamte khe mehā phullä nivā paṇatthi(sic.)rā morā / nattho camdujjoo väsäratto hala patto ||
This Gatha is also found cited anonymously at Bhoja's SaraSvatikaṇṭhābharana 3.153 (with the variant panaṭṭhirā).
Now the self-same Gāthā is cited in the anonymous commentary on Kavidarpana 2.8.7 as an example of the Brahmi type (which has maximum permissible number of heavy syllables), and what is relevant for us here, it is cited as a Gatha by Padaliptasūri.6
5. The bunch of five Gathas at TL. 1022-1026 constitute, according to TL. 1021, a song sung by some soldiers. The theme of the song is that one should not lose heart and initiative even in the face of severest calamities. The second Gatha in this group (i.e. TL. 1023) is the same as SS. 1.42. with slight difference in the case of a few readings. The TL. text is metrically and gramThe two texts of the Gāthā matically defective in some places. (with suggested emendations for the defective readings in the TL,) are as follows:
ārambhamāṇassa (bhamtassa) phuḍam lacchi maraṇaṁ vā(va) hoi purisassa | tamaṇārambha(bhe) vi hoi [maraṇam] niyayam na una lacchi || (TL. 1023)
ambhamtassa dhuam lacchi maraṇaṁ va hoi purisassa | tam maraṇamaṇārambhe vi hoi lacchi una na hoi || (SS. 1.42)
As the above-cited Gāthā from the TL. forms part of a group with thematic unity, it is less likely to have been an addition of the epitomizer, and we can accept it as belonging to the original poem.7
6. In this connection I feel the fourth Gatha of the SS. has a particular significance. The Gathā is as follows:
