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120
Ashok Aklujkar
[16]
(17)
Prologue and Epilogue Verses of Vacaspati-misra!
121
of mine was unexpectedly supported by the information I later read in Sankaranarayanan 1985:48: «Lakşmi-nr-simha refers to the existence of the alternative reading kārtasvardsdra-supüritarthi-särtbah meaning 'He, the desires of the multitude of whose petitioners are fulfilled by the showers of gold. The expression artha-särtha can be looked upon as a lectio difficilior and deserves to be considered seriously, but experience teaches us that we cannot always accept a reading simply because it is a lectio difficilior. In a case in which we have reason to believe that an alternative form has been used elsewhere (and I am sure that arthi-sārtha has been used more than once), has probably become an idiom because of its striking nature (due to alliteration etc.), is likely to have developed association with a particular context (in this case, supplicants going to a rich person) and does not appear to have been someone's emendation, we cannot set aside the alternative form just because it gives a contextually appropriate sense in a straightforward manner. Its claim for acceptance is then at least as strong as that of a lectio difficilior.
cording to the canons of textual criticism, it should not be replaced unless it is evidently incongruent with many other reliable indications in the evidence. Such is not the case. Therefore, we should retain nrge as the reading and con tinue our efforts to identify the ruler Nrga meant by Vācaspati. That the deci phered epigraphs do not mention Nrga as a king or ruler is not sufficient justification for abandoning the reading. The epigraphs (or any documents for that matter) do not constitute the complete record of history - even of political or dynastic history. The very unusualness of the name Nrga holds the promise of enabling us one day to determine Vācaspati's time and domicile (at least for a part of his life) with certainty. Furthermore, the large number of ad-hoc assumptions (including the identity of Vācaspati-II with the VacaspatiI of our present study: see Aklujkar 1998) and arbitrary textual changes Sankara narayanan (1985:53.59) must introduce in order to make his emendation con form to the available evidence tells us that his emendation is not the solution to the problem that has confronted him as it did the earlier students of Vacaspati's works.
$2.7d In the same verse 5, Sankaranarayanan (1985: 34 fn 1) emends Oksanas ca toksano yah. For proper syntactic relating of the words, forms of the relative pronoun are needed. I too, at first, found their non-employment in the verse strange. However, since they are absent in the case of all the three propositions regarding Nrga contained in the verse, any emendation made to satisfy our expectation will need three forms, will disrupt the metre and will be quite drastic. Therefore, we should accept the verse as it is. Vacaspati could have thought that the context was sufficiently clear for the readers to be able to sup. ply yaḥ in the three propositions.
$3.1 It will be evident from $2.3a, S2.4a and $2.7a above that Vācaspati could have 'recycled' some of his verses. To do so is no dishonour, at least in the second half of first millenium A.D. to which Vācaspati belonged. The poet Bhava-bhuti (ca. 7th century A.D.) is seen re-using his verses in plays, occasion ally by adopting the device of üha or partial substitution. If this could be done in poetic literature, in which novelty of expression is prized and is explicitly expected by theoreticians, it could certainly be done in Sastra without bringing disrepute onto oneself. The sāstrakāras in practically all areas seem to have seen nothing wrong even in adapting the verses of others (e.g., Bhämaha Dandin'in poetics, 'Kumarild Sänta-rakṣita' in philosophy, several Smrti authors in Dharma-sästra). Doing so was not a matter of inability but purely of conve. nience (and occasionally of being able to score points in debate through sarcasm). Vācaspati, after all, was only using his own products again.
However, if one looks at the situation more carefully, one notices that re
$2.7e Sankaranarayanan (1985: 45-61; 1997: 136 note 1) suggests that, in verse 6, we should read nrpe in the place of nrge and take mahipa as standing for the proper name Mahi Pala, so that a determination of Vacaspati's date that conforms to the statements made by and about Vācaspati can be obtained. In my view, such an emendation should not be introduced. The reading nrge is attested in more than one place in the Bhāmati and also in the mss of commen taries that are 6-7 centuries old, as noted by Sankaranarayanan himself. Ac.
Toward the completion of this article I had access to the edn of Laksmf-nr-simha's work and I could confirm Sankaranarayanan's helpful reference. The Abhoga on Amalānanda's Kalpa-taru reads on p. 949: tatranthi-sarther pibent kartatoardsdrena supüritab artinant srtho yanyerererer pastarudd ape kp4, www.draw ardhe dhe parbant bylaaste kartasyaraw di ( warety").
These propositions are 'Nega obtained such fame with the mere movement of his brows other kings were not able to reach even in their imagination', 'hosts of supplicants have been fully sati sfied by Nga through showers of gold', and 'Nega is himself a judge of tāstras
>> ) In addition to the epilogue, Vacaspati mentions Noga while commenting on the Bhiss of
2.1.3); we aldydpi ne dryante mirevinirmisani mahaprasada primadowadni frlmanna-narendal
(+ pidid? honorific plural) anyesant mangsapidusandal marefund. At the same place, Amalananda informs us that Nega is the king who honoured Vacaspati Adryan yo mabi-pati mabaydı cakedralaya de PES ). The editors of neither Vicaspaci's text nor Amalananda's indicate any uncertainty about the wig constituent of the sentence. Besides, aga is in prose here. Vicaspati cannot be said to have modified the name for the sake of the metre or to have given us a synonymous expression for a proper name (as Sanskrit poets and versifiers sometimes do).
(b) While commenting on Amalinanda's sentence quoted in (a), Laksmi-ne-simha reads matrin the place of mabaydint. He explains that reading as follows: mahab
p r ilayendiyeli vigrabe, aria-dder ki gonad se pratyny, Malaw.pratyayabanena mabigatindaryo-wap-wise wil krip - wall pai penn kenapi na krety abbate-lad-
b e bharat
