Kavyashiksha

Author(s): Vinaychandrasuri, Hariprasad G Shastri
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

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nos. 73, 76, 85, 95, 130, 135, 143, 147, 148, 157, 171 and 173. The written side of the first folio is illustrated here as a specimen. Editing : The availablity of only a single ms. and its incompleteness, coupled with the rapid collation of the provisional press-copy with the original ms. on account of the limited sphere of its accessibility, have given rise to some shortcomings in editing this work. Hence I have followed the practice of presenting the original readings as faithfully as possible, without correcting them at my discretion. Several corrections suggested ingenuously by Muni Shri Punyavijayaji while going through the printed forms of the work, are incorporated in the corrigenda, which also contain corrections of misprints. Pt. Ambalal P. Shah, one of the General Editors of this Series, also contributed some suggestions while correcting the proofs. I acknowledge my sincere thanks to the institutions and persons that have supplied me with the mss. as well as the persons that have given me their guidance and co-operation. Some of the missing folios fortunately contain quotations from earlier works. I have tried to recover their contents from the context and inserted the missing portions in large brackets. The Title of the Work : As the concluding folio of the ms. is missing, the puspika of the work along with the prasasti of the author is not available. But the extant concluding portions of its paricchedas contain puspikas. The puspikas of the first four paricchedas entitle the work as Kavyasiksa, while the puspika of the fifth pariccheda substitutes Kavisiksa for Kavyasiksa. The opening verse of the first pariccheda introduces the work as Kavyasiksa. The concluding verse of the first pariccheda contains the word Kavisiksa, but there the form seems used to denote the subject rather than the title of the work. Thus the author of the work seems to have both the terms Kavyasiksa and Kavisiksa in his view, but his predilection is for the former. The exposition of kavya and siksas in the opening pariccheda, too, favours this inference. If the concluding folio were not missing, the final puspika of the work would have given the exact title of the work. However, in view of the available data cited above, the work seems to be entitled Kavyasiksa rather than Kavisiksa. Contents of the Work : The work is divided into paricchedas. In the opening verse of the first pariccheda, the author pays his respects to Goddess Bharati (Sarasvati) as well as to the Speech of Guru