Proceedings of the Seminar on Prakrit Studies 1973

Author(s): K R Chandra, Dalsukh Malvania, Nagin J Shah
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 67

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Another such work of unknown authorship and date, but linguistically assignable to the seventeenth century is called Sadayayaccha-SāvalimgiPanigrahana Caupar. Both these works have been given in the appendix by Manjulal Majmudar in his edition of Bhima's poem. Agarchand Nahta has given us a survey? of different early and late versions of the tale current in Rajasthan and Gujarat.
Lastly, there is one more reference to the tale of Suddaya, once again from an Apabbraṁsa poet. And if this tale is the same as the one we are considering here then the date of the earliest literary composition about the adventures of Suddaya can be shifted back by a century. The reference concerns the great Apabhram a poet Svayambhūdeva, the author of the epics Paumacariya and the Righanemicariya. In the latter work, which has not been published so far, we find the following verse, which expresses exhaustion on the part of the poet after continuous life-long literary activity.8
काऊण पोमचरियं सुद्दयचरिय च गुण-गणग्घवियं ।
e-HE-ETOT Aš ginag-all The poet here says that after having composed the Paumacariya and the Suddayacariya full of literary merits, my Sarasvati (literary powers) seems to have become exhausted in the present task of clearing delusions regarding the Harivamsa narrative. Here it is quite likely that Svayambhu's Suddayacari ya was a poem dealing with the tale of Suddayavira. Of course we cannot be definite about this as Pk. Ap. suddaya stands also for Sk. Śūdraka and we have references to several Śūdraha-kothas composed in Prakrit ard Aratharisa10. But it should te rcted that Siajambtü bas composed works on Ramāyaṇa and Mahabhārata and his third work Suddayacariya might have handled the popular tale of Suddaya. We have already taken note of two Apabhramsa poets, Nayanandin and Abdala Rahamāņa, talking about the Rāmāyaṇa, the Mahabhārata and the Suddaya tale in the same breath. Let us hope that we may recover some day the old Prakrit and Apabhramsa works on this highly romantic tale of Sudayavatsa.
References
1. Jambūsāmicaria of Virakavi edited by V. P. Jain, 1968, Samdhi 1, Kadavaka 4,
also Introduction, pp. 11, 14. Hence Kochad (Apabhramsa-sahitya, 1956, p. 148) has missed it. Paramanand Jain Shastri (Jain-Grantha-Prasasti-Sangraha, Part-2. 1963, Introduction p. 59, text p. 6, Index, p. 165) has misunderstood it as Vira-kahā. V. P. Jain has either simply mentioned it (loc., cit., Index, P. 386) without any comment or has rendered it incorrectly and with a query as 'Suddhayavira-Kathā ?'.