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Observations on some Variants in Harşacarita
219
he wrote az qal Far , repeating gari used in the preceding adjective nafaarfan that results in a yamaka, so dear to Bāņa. With art restored, the relevant part of the sentence would read : Halifagiai gali Fan .......5719 , meaning for your welfare, resort to Lord Sankara, who is the author of all lores and supports all on the earth."
In a casual reference to day-break, the redness of the morning sun is fancied to have been caused by the blood, dripping from the mouths of its horses, that are believed, in mythology, to be seven in number. The expression used in the Bombay edition- खणखणायमानस्खलखलीनक्षतनिजतुंरगमखfarda qasta geroago (p. 13)--runs counter to what is intended to be conveyed here. How a loose (DST) bit can cause deep injury leading to profuse bleeding, is beyond comprehension ? Obviously, the reading a
o is out of joint here, admitted and perpetuated in the text without proper understanding of the purpose it seeks to serve. It is interesti find some of the MSS. read O o o in place of . Feat. And it has actually been adopted by Kane in his edition of the text (p. 7).
The graphic depiction of the Ganges in the first chapter, is characterised by a series of clauses, with frequent allusices to mythological asrects of the sacred river. The epithet 'तापसवितीर्णतरलतिलोदकपुलकितपुलिनामू' underscores ite association with the ascetics who, doam inteit down to this day. The
hrage, as it stands, is shorn of pricision, if not comprehension. In is present form it would mean :its sandy banks bristled with tarala sesame and water, offered by the hermits. It is difficult to understand the signi ficance of tarala in the context. While water is doubtless liquid, to apply it to sesa me is absurd. It has been wisely rejected in favour of fact which IR certainly more in tune with fait. But faalut itself is confronted with the variant fa hlot, in the Bombay edition Though both the alternatives suit the context, fa stof, we think, has an edge over fastof. The dank would bristle with water and Sesame more, if they are scattered (tral on its vast expanse and not merely offereb (afatot) at a few separa places.
In view of its sanctity and elevating efficacy the Ganges is conceived subsequently in the description as being instrumental in Saving one from the agonies of the hell. While the reading arta
UE, adop. ted in the Bombay edition (p. 19), implies exactly the same, poetically it sounds somewhat bald. Baņa's fancy could not be expected to have sto
with the protesque cantaina. P. V. Kane, iberefore, rightly prefer
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