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A REFERENCE TO BHATTA CANDRANANDA BY ABHINAVAGUPTA
Umakant P. Shah
Muni Jambuvijayaji's edition, for the first time, of Candrāpanda's Vrtti on the Vaišeşika-Sutras, published as G, O. Series, no. 136 is now well-known. The date of Candrānanda was not certain. However, in the Journal of the Oriental Institute, Vol. XIX no. 4 (June 1970), pp. 340-41. Ashoka Aklujkar published a note on "Candrānanda's Date" quoting three passages from Helārāja's Commentary on the Vakyapadiya, and thus showing the tenth century as the lower limit of Candrānanda's date. He also said that Helārāja was "ip all probability a senior contemporary of Abhinavaguptaż the famous philosopher and poetician unanimously assigned to tenth century A.D. by scholars."
It would, therefore, be interesting to note here that Abhinavagupta has also referred to Candrananda, in the Isvarapratyabhijñā-Vivști-Vimaršini, edited in three volumes by Pandit Madhusudan Kaul Shastri, and pubiished in Kashmir Series of Texts and Studies Vol. LXLXII and LXV 01938, 1941, 1943, respy.) This famous commentary was completed in Noy. 1014 A. D., which is arrived at by Pandit Kaul on the basis of the following hemistich occurring at the end of this work :
इति नवतितमेऽस्मिन्वासरेऽन्त्ये युगांशे ।
तिथि शशिजलधिस्थे मार्गशीर्षावसाने ॥ Abhinavagupta wrote this commentary at the fag-end of his life, at the imploration of his own younger brother Manoratha as shown by him. self in this commentary. In this comm. on Utpalācārya's Išvara pratyabhiiña-Vivrti, Abhinavagupta has himself quoted from many of his earlier works like Abhinava-Bharatı, Tantraloka etc.
This work is a mine of quotations from various authors and works. of these. Abhinava's most favourite source is Bhartyhari and his Vākyapa. diya, Amongst other works and authors mention may be made of the Bhagavad-Gita (cited with reverence), śiva-Prsti, Naresvara-Viveka, Pramāna-Laksana, Ajadapramatrsiddhi, Sambandhasiddhi. Abbidharmakosa
1. In support of contemporaneity of Helārāja and Abhinavagupta, Aklujkar. cited .. (1) Charudeva Shastri, "Bhartyhari a critical study with special reference to the Vak
yapadiya and its commentaries, proceedings of the Fifth All India Oriental Conference Lahore, Vol, I(1930), p. 652-653, and (ii) Subramia Iyer K, A., Vākyapadtya of Bhartyahari with the commentary of Helārāja, Kānda III, Part I. Deccan College. Monograph Series, no. 21 (Poona, 1963), p. xi,
