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I must therefore request the reader to enjoy the pleasure of Damodar Gupta's poetry by perusing the original itself, with the help of the commentary. IX. THE COMMENTARY.
To write a new commentary in Sanskrit on an ancient poem, the text of which is obscure in many places, is not an easy task at any time, and specially for a man educated in these times under the modern system of education. But in spite of all these handicaps and many others, incidental to his worldly position and business, Mr. Tanasukharam bas indeed achieved a wonderful success. True, Mr. Tanasuk haram had a tippani before him, to start with, but it will be apparent to every reader that the extent and the merit of the commentary far exceeds those of the tippani.
This tippani, written by Ratna Gopal Bhatta, a pandit of Benares, under the direct supervision of Babu Givind Das, is very brief. In fact it is of very little help to understand the deep meaning and appreciate the beauties of the poem. Besides it has made no attempt at restoring the correct readings. When a learned Panait of the old school could only do thus much, and when we know the handicaps of Mr. Tanasukharam, we cannot sufficiently admire this achievement of Mr. Tanasukharam. This commentary is his first (and unfortunately the last) attempt. Upon the tippani and a mere sketch by him, Mr. Tanasukharam reared this splendid edifice of his commentary, by making additions suggested by the materials stored up in his mind during his vast reading, and by putting finishing touches to the commentary as it went through the press. In the commentary the portions written by Mr. Tanasukharam are enclosed in square [] brackets, while those by Pandit Ratna Gopal Bhatta are not enclosed.
In the commentary Mr. Tanasukharam has as far as possible explained the Dhwani or suggested meanings of the poetical expressions throughout the poem. He has explained the figures of speech by applying their definitions as given in the standard works on Alankaras. He has quoted authorities from Koshas to determine and support the meanings of words where necessary. He has solved many grammatical difficulties in the text. He
Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
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