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Professor G. Bühler's critical study
authors are quite sound in grammer. Once, 1.44, the MS. gives the form asisna pat, and again VII.38, asasnapat. It is possible, however, that these are clerical errors. In another place, VII.43, there is the incorrect form pratilābhita. One peculiarity is the abrupt commencement of the pasm which has neither an introduction for a long mangala. The mangala is represented only by the word Sri with wnich the first verse begins.
THE AUTHOR AND HIS TIME All that we learn from the poem about Arisimha is that his father was called Layanyasimha, VIII.48, or Lavaṇasimha, X.46. The latter is, of course, the form really used in ordinary life. We may further infer from the whole manner of representation that the poet belonged to the Jaina sect. Since his own and his father's name both end in simha, it is probable that they were both Rājputs. We learn something more about him from his assistant Amarapandita or Amarayati, whose full name is Amarachandra, and from the later Prabandhas of the Jainas. Amarachandra, pupil of Jinadattasūri, was the author of a series of works, among which the Bālabhārata, published in the Pandit of 1869 ff., the instruction for poets', called Kõvyakalpalatā (Kaviśikshā ), and the Kavyakalpalatäparimalal have been known for a long time. In the introduction to the second work he says that the aphorisms in it are composed partly by himself, partly by Arisiṁha. It is said there, 1.2:-" Whilst I esteem the Kavitārahasya, of the excellent poet Arisimha, who, like the full moon, causes the great ocean of the nectar of poetry to swell, on account of extempore composition, I shall comment upon the aphorisms composed partly by me, partly by him." From this it follows, first, that Arisimha wrote a handbook of poetry with the title Kavitārahasya, and, secondly, that the text of the Kāvyakalpalatā was written by him and Amarachandra in common. .
More is contained in Rājasekhara's Prabandhakosha, in which the thirteenth part is dedicated to the poet Amarachandra. It is narrated there that Amarachandra, pupil of Jinadattasűri, received the charm called Siddhasārasvata from an unnamed Kavirāja, i.e., from a man who bore the title poet-prince. Through the proper use of the same, Amarachandra compelled the goddess of eloquence to appear to him, and obtained grace from her to become a perfect poet, honoured by all princes, He then wrote the first and second of the above-named works as well as the Chhandoratnāvali, the Sūktaraināvali, the Kalākalāpa, and later, upon the word,' i.e., at the desire of a patron, the Kaushihāgārika Padma, the Sastra called Padmānanda. Rājasekhara further records that Amarachandra, after various adventures arrived at the court of Visaladeva, king of Dholkā, and won his favour. Once, it continues, the king asked him : Who is thy teacher in the fine arts?' Amara said : The poet-prince Arisimha'. Then bring him to me to-morrow morning' ( answered the king ). The following morning Amarachandra led the poet before the king. The king sat leaning on his sword and asked : Is this the poet-prince?'
1. That the third work, a super-commentary to the second, comes from Amarachandra himself; it says at the end of Kavyakalpalatā, 1.5: etachhchhlokoktavarnyánär viseshāntarāni kavisamayodaharanāni matkritakāvyakalpalatāparimalāj jñeyāni.
2. See Aufrecht, Catalogus cod. S. M. Bibl. Bodleianoe, p. 210b. In the beginning of the second Päda, MS. No. 119 of my collection has matvă instead of natuā, and I translate accordingly. Compare also Bhāņdārkar, Report on the Search, etc., 1883–84, p. 6.
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