Book Title: Love or Leave Bhartuharis Dilemma
Author(s): Ashok Aklujkar
Publisher: ZZ_Anusandhan

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________________ अनुसंधान - १७• 3 Gorakṣa-natha* after an unparalleled demonstration of devotion by his wife. As a consequence, he gives up the life of gilded royal luxury and embraces the naturally adorned existence of a mendicant's life. Whether this BH is identical with either of the two Bs known to us from the literary remains generally titled (a) Śataka-trya and (b) the Vākyapadiya and the Mahābhāṣya-ṭikā is a question that has so far defied a convincing solution. Those who, rightly, notice a recurrent pessimism and disillusionment in the Śatakatraya naturally feel that the third renouncing BH is at least more likely to be the author of the Śataka-traya stanzas (cf. Kale 1971:iv; Jinavijaya 1959:8). On the other hand, the scholars who are aware of the mention by I-ching," a Chinese scholar who travelled through many parts of India in the late seventh century, that the author of the Trikāṇḍi or Vākyapadiya and Mahābhāṣya-ṭikā was a Buddhist monk (at least for a singnificant length of time) are more likely to accept that the 'monk-disciple-of-Gorakhnath' persona could have developed out of an earlier 'Buddhist monk' persona. § 2.2 The situation is made more complicated by the fact that the name of the Sataka-traya author could have been "Bhartṛ-hara" instead of "Bhartṛ-hari" (Kosambi 1948:Introduction, pp. 20, 22, 23; Jinavijaya 1959: 9-10) and that there is a remarkable similarity of attitude and a remarkable nearness in time and space between the Śatakatraya author and the Vaiyākaraṇa or Grammarian BH. The difference of name would suggest that the poet BH and the Vaiyakaraṇa BH were two different historical persons, albeit in a weak way, for a corruption of "hari" to "hara" can easily and independently occur in manuscripts.' On the other hand, the similarity of attitude is at such a fundamental level that it seems improbable that there could Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

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