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15. THE PRAKRIT AND DEŠA-BHASĀ PASSAGES IN
SOMEŚVARA'S MĀNASOLLĀSA The Sixteenth Chapter of the fourth Vimsati (i.e., seventy-sixth chapter according to continuous numbering) of Someśvara's Mānasollasa or Abhilașitārthacintamani (Vol. III, GOS, no. 138. 1961) composed in 1163 A. D., is devoted to the description of the pastime of music (gitavinoda). After treating the Rāgas, it describes a number of metres (including the Mātrā-metres). because the texts of the songs or musical Prabandhas, in Sanskrit, Prakrit, Apabhra mśa, Karņāța language and other regional languages, were usually composed in these metres. Unfortunately ihe illustrations of the metres and compositions for those cases where the languagee was to be other than Sanskrit are very badly preserved in the MSS. Their text is highly corrupt, and consequently the editor of the Mānasollasa has for the most part given it simply as groups or series of letters, without any line or word divisions. An attempt, therefore, is being made here to restore and interprete some of the passages, which are very valuable linguistically, metrically and also as specimens of the twelth century non-Sanskrit poetry. In the preface to the third volume of the Mānasollāsa G. K. Shrigondekar, its editor, has described the three MSS. (A. C. and O) on the basis of which he has constituted the text. Of these he has not found G much helpful, as it agrees with A. Here in the case of all the passages I have given first the reading according to each of the two MSS. A and D, and thereafter the restored text with English translation. I have also consulted the MS. G. (which is now in the MSS. collection of L. D. Institute of Indology, Ahmedabad, bearing the accession no. 4188).
In all there are thirteen passages which are wholly or partly in Prakrit, Apabharamsa or Deśa-bhāsās. Their list is as follow :
